Rugby Cranes of Uganda and Makkis from Madagascar have one foot in next year’s World Rugby Challenger Series after finishing top of the first leg of the Africa Sevens Cup tournament in Mauritius last weekend.

The two teams met in the final where the Rugby Cranes nullified Madagascar’s free-running Makkis to win 31-12. Aaron Oforywroth scored the opening try at the corner. The Rugby Cranes retrieved the ball from the kick off after Madagascar allowed the ball to bounce.

Timothy Kasiga was next over after a quick exchange with Adrian Kasito. Philip Wokorach converted for a 12-0 lead. Madagascar pulled one back through Andre Alex capitalizing on a flat line by the Rugby Cranes that left the backline exposed.

On resumption, Madagascar continued from where they left off scoring a converted try to narrow the gap 17-12 in the Rugby Crane’s favor. But Nobert Okeny had other ideas, scoring the fourth try which Philip Wokorach converted to stretch the lead 22-12.

Completed his brace

Kasiga completed his brace when Oforywroth picked up the ball from the base of the scrum and ran on the left before putting Kasiga through. Wokorach converted to seal the scores. Madagascar had a chance to finish with a flourish but knocked the ball on handing over possession to the Rugby Cranes.

From the ensuing scrum down, Oforywroth retrieved the ball and ran back to his try line to kick it out and end the match. He knelt down in prayer as the rest of the team celebrated the win.

The Rugby Cranes edged out South Africa 12-0 in the semi-finals and Ivory Coast 15-10 in the quarters. The two teams had tied 10-10 after regulation time. In a bizarre moment, the Rugby Crane’s first try was overturned for an earlier infringement. The decision took nearly two minutes.

Narrow miss

Madagascar battled past Mauritius by narrowly winning 12-5 in the quarters before another close 24-19 win over Burkina Faso in the semis. South Africa picked the bronze by beating Burkina Faso 35-7 in the play-off.

Kenya’s Morans faded after being beaten by Madagascar 7-5 in their last pool match to finish sixth. Morans were beaten 12-7 by South Africa in the quarter finals but bounced back to see off Ivory Coast 22-5 in the fifth place semi-final. They lost 19-28 to Zimbabwe in the final play off.

At the completion of the first leg, Uganda’s Rugby Cranes collected 20 points to carry the favorite’s tag to the penultimate round this weekend where they have been drawn against the same teams – Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Tunisia – they played in the first leg. 

Standing: Uganda 20, Madagascar 18, South Africa 16, Burkina Faso 14, Zimbabwe 12, Kenya 10, Ivory Coast 8, Mauritius 6, Zambia 4, Nigeria 3, Tunisia 2, Algeria 1.

Cup quarter finals: Uganda 15 Ivory Coast 10, South Africa 12 Kenya 7, Burkina Faso 24 Zimbabwe 21, Madagascar 12 Mauritius 5; Semi-finals: Uganda 12 South Africa 0, Burkina Faso 19 Madagascar 24; Play-off: South Africa 35 Burkina Faso 7; Final: Madagascar 12 Uganda 31.

Fifth place semis: Zimbabwe 42 Mauritius 7; Ivory Coast 5 Kenya 22;  Final: Kenya 19 Zimbabwe 28.

Seventh place final: Ivory Coast 24 Mauritius 19.

Ninth place semis: Zambia 28 Algeria 21; Nigeria 19 Tunisia 5;

Final: Zambia 22 Nigeria 7.

11th place final: Algeria 10 Tunisia 14.