Tolbert Onyango, Uganda’s Rugby Cranes coach who has been in charge since 2015 has an unfinished mission even after his charges won the first leg of Africa Rugby Sevens tournament in Mauritius last weekend.

He has one foot in next year’s World Rugby Challenger Series – where Uganda performed dismally this season – but requires an additional boost this weekend in the second leg. Every point is crucial and Onyango, a former Kenya scrum-half defaulted to the proverbial – one match at a time – dialogue when exclusively interviewed by www.thesportsnewsarena.com from Mauritius.

Although the ever-smiling coach respected each team saying that every team had a good chance of winning on the opening day and qualifying for the cup quarter final, Onyango and his players have to weave around the same teams they met in the first leg. The first match is against Tunisia.

Worked hard
Overall, Onyango acknowledged the Rugby Cranes worked hard despite a heavy schedule that has seen them play in the Challenger Series in Dubai, Montevideo and Munich before flying to Monaco for the Olympic Repechage tournament. In between was the 13th All Africa Games in Accra, Ghana in May.

With such a demanding schedule, Onyango has had to rotate his squad leaving some behind when the team traveled to Munich.  ‘It has been a short turn around,” Onyango stated in reference to the Olympic Repechage in Monaco and the first leg of the Africa Sevens tournament in Mauritius. 

The coach was pleased with the progress of the team to the final and eventually winning. Perhaps the hardest match was against the Ivory Coast whom they beat by a golden point at the pool stage. In this match, an assistant referee took nearly two minutes to make a decision that overturned Uganda’s first try.

Plucky performance

However, after this plucky performance, the Rugby Cranes swept all that was before them including a 12-0 win against South Africa in the semi-finals. “It was a must win for us,” Onyango reiterated, recalling they had met the senior South Africa team in Monaco and had a Although the coach has set his eyes on steering the Rugby Cranes to the World Rugby Sevens Series and the Olympics before finally saying that his mission has been achieved, he admitted qualifying for the Challenger Series was the first step to ascending the next step. “The program will be dead if we do not qualify,” Onyango admitted.

This weekend, the coach cautioned against ruling out South Africa and Kenya. “Their pedigree and experience is much higher and they have access to better technical aspects of the game,” he offered. Other sides on the horizon are Zimbabwe and Madagascar who Onyango says is unpredictable.

Not easy

The second tournament will not be easy according to the Rugby Cranes coach. “We have rallied for two legs for a long time. The second weekend is tough for bodies,” he offered. On Saturday, the focus for the Rugby Cranes will be winning their pool and landing a good draw in the quarter final. 

Depending on the other results, the Rugby Cranes aim for a minimum podium place to qualify for the Challenger Series. The thoughts behind this is Uganda’s crucial win against South Africa last week in the semi-final. “Losing could have jeopardized our chances of qualifying for the Challenger Series,” the coach explained.

It is with this mentality that the Rugby Cranes will adopt in the first match against Tunisia.

The draw

Pool A: Uganda, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Tunisia.

Pool B: Madagascar, Kenya, Zambia, Algeria.

Pool C: South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Nigeria

Order of play: Zimbabwe v Mauritius, South Africa v Nigeria, Zambia v Kenya, Madagascar v Algeria, Burkina Faso v Ivory Coast, Uganda v Tunisia, Nigeria v Zimbabwe, Mauritius v South Africa, Kenya v Algeria, Madagascar v Zambia, Burkina Faso v Tunisia, Uganda v Ivory Coast, Zambia v Algeria, Madagascar v Kenya, Tunisia v Ivory Coast, Uganda v Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe v South Africa, Nigeria v Mauritius.