The Uganda men and women’s teams are through to the main cup quarter finals with a match to spare after winning their opening two matches in Montevideo at the second World Rugby Challenger Series tournament.

On Saturday, the Lady Cranes who beat Thailand 15-5 and Mexico 48-7 will face Argentina in their last Pool C match. These are the only two unbeaten teams in the Pool. 

The men’s team stunned Germany 17-14 in their opening match and hosts Uruguay 26-21 in a tough Pool C which also has Papua New Guinea who they face on Saturday.

Neighbours Kenya had mixed results and could miss out the main cup quarter finals after a good outing in the opening tournament in Dubai. Kenya Lionesses were beaten 12-0 by Hong Kong China in their first match before struggling to beat Papua New Guinea 29-12 in the second match. They play red-hot Belgium who beat PNG 37-5 and Hong Kong China 24-5.

Tough assignment

Shujaa, the men’s team, according to the commentators barely left the tarmac scrapping a 19-12 win over a spirited Portugal before losing 0-17 to Georgia. They have a tough assignment against Tonga on Saturday. 

Kenya Lionesses barely moved off the starting blocks as they were suffocated by physical Hong Kong China in their first match. The runners-up in Dubai were denied possession in the opening half which saw Natasha Olson-Thorne, the Hong Kong China captain score a brace in the fourth and 13th minutes to stun the East Africans.

Vivian Poon landed one conversion. It was all Hong Kong China in the opening half and they continued the dominance in the second. 

Redemption came against a strong Papua New Guinea outfit where the Kenya Lionesses did enough to win 29-12. In the word’s of the commentators, Kenya barely engaged the second gear and were still on the tarmac in this match.

Tries by Janet Okello, Judith Akumu, Stella Wafula. Christabel Lindo and Naomi Amuguni restored parity for the East Africans. Okulu and Sinaida Nyachio added one conversion each. Joanne Lagona and Alice Alois replied with a try for PNG. Lagona added one conversion.

Uganda 15 Thailand 5

Uganda, the other East African team, won 15-5 against Thailand. Mayimuna Nasoozi scored a try in the second minute. Grace Nabaggala missed the conversion before Dion Akwaja replied for Thailand. Wannaree Meechok missed conversion.

Thailand were reduced to six when Nantadchaporn Yodya was shown a yellow card. Additional tries by Grace Auma and Peace Lekuru sealed the scores for Uganda. 

In their second match, Uganda overran Mexico 48-7 to book a place in the cup quarter finals. Peace Lekuru and Rachel Mufuwa scored two tries each while Ritta Nadunga, Lydia Namabiro, Grace Nabaggala and Agnes Nakuya added one each. Nabaggala kicked over four conversions. Alessandra Bender replied for Mexico with a try and conversion. 

Winning debut

Debutant Chrisant Ojwang saved Shujaa the blushes by scoring a try at death against Portugal in a match the opponents superbly controlled to lead 12-7 at half time.

In this match, Shujaa opted for a physical approach and soaked up pressure before Kevin Wekesa opened the account in the second minute with a try which John Okoth converted. Joao Afra Rosa replied for Portugal two minutes later.

They used a numerical advantage after Denis Abukuse was shown a yellow card. Diogo Rodrigues scored the second try for a 12-7 lead at the break. Anthony Omondi scored an unconverted try to tie the scores 12-12 before Ojwang’ power over at death and Omondi converted to steal the win.

Shujaa fired blanks against a physical Georgia side who won 17-0 in the second match.

Uganda 17 Germany 12

Uganda scored three tries against two by Germany to win 17-12. Try scorer for Uganda were Adrian Kasito, Nobert Okeny and Pius Ogena. Denis Etwau added one conversion in this match which had two players from Germany yellow-carded.

Niklas Koch and Ben Ellermann replied with a try each for Germany. Felix Hufnagel slotted both conversions.

There was drama in the second match against Uruguay when Uganda were forced to play with only six players after Adrian Kasito was booked for the second time. With the scores tied 21-21, Philip Wokorach scored a break away try to silence the home fans.

Try scorers for Uganda were Timothy Kisiga, Okeny and Wokorach (2). He landed three conversions. Today, they have a tricky assignment against Papua New Guinea.

The top two teams in each pool shall proceed to the cup quarter finals where they will be joined by the two best qualifiers. 

Day one results

Women

Pool A: China, Czechia, Paraguay, Poland

Poland 46 Czechia 0, China 29 Paraguay 5, Poland 32 Paraguay 5, China 28 Czechia 15. 

Pool B: Belgium, Hong Kong, Kenya, Papua New Guinea

Belgium 37 Papua New Guinea 5, Kenya 0 Hong Kong China 12, Belgium 24 Hong Kong China 5, Kenya 29 Papua New Guinea 12. 

Pool C: Argentina, Mexico, Thailand, Uganda

Uganda 15 Thailand 5, Argentina 54 Mexico 0, Uganda 48 Mexico 7, Argentina 10 Thailand 7. 

Men

Pool A: Georgia, Kenya, Portugal, Tonga

Tonga 40 Georgia 5, Kenya 19 Portugal 12, Portugal 17 Tonga 12, Kenya 0 Georgia 17.

Pool B:  Chile, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico

Hong Kong 42 Japan 7, Chile 48 Mexico 0, Japan 29 Mexico 26, Chile 14 Hong Kong China 19. 

Pool C: Germany, Papua New Guinea, Uganda, Uruguay.

Uganda 17 Germany 14, Uruguay 31 Papua New Guinea 14, PNG 0 Germany 36, Uruguay 21 Uganda 26.