Uganda’s Rugby Cranes are the undisputed African kings in the shorter version of the game after winning two legs of the Rugby Africa Sevens title in Mauritius on Sunday.

The tournament which for the first time was held over two legs saw the Rugby Cranes soar to the top of the pack and thereby automatically qualify for next year’s World Rugby Challenger Series together with Madagascar who finished second. Remaining in the Challenger Series was the focus of coach Tolbert Onyango when he exclusively talked to www.thesportsnewsarena.com from Mauritius.

Onyango who has guided the Rugby Cranes from 2015 remains humble saying: “A coach is only as good as his last game.” Two mountains Onyango would like to scale are guiding the team to the Olympics and a World Rugby Sevens core status.

In the final, the Rugby Cranes edged out a South Africa Development side 20-17. Madagascar, who tied with South Africa on 34 points, also punched a ticket to the Challenger Series because South Africa and Kenya were not in contention.

In contention

Going into the last day, Burkina Faso and Zimbabwe remained in contention and needed a podium finish. Zimbabwe lost to Uganda in the cup semi-finals but beat Madagascar for the bronze. 

Kenya Morans, a development side only managed a sixth spot in both tournaments. Twice, the Morans came close to reaching the last four but bungled the chance by opting for a less favorable choice against Madagascar and Zimbabwe. The decisions came back to haunt them.

Marius Schoeman who coached the South Africans, in an interview with Rugby Africa said the tournament was a good forum for trying out new players who were knocking on the doors of the senior team.

The former 7s player gave credit to all the teams and added the tournament was a good way of developing the game in the continent. “It is good to have many teams competing and learning from one another,” Schoeman stated.

More tournaments

However, the coach admitted it was hard to play back-to-back tournaments because of the short turnaround and the toll such format had on the playing units. Like most coaches,  Schoeman would like to have more tournaments like the one in Mauritius.

There has been a blueprint for more tournaments but the logistics are overwhelming. Traveling within Africa makes such a suggestion a pipe dream. The same sentiments were also expressed by Onyango who added that the plan to have an Africa Circuit has been on the drawing boards for a long time.

Having more tournaments depends on the availability of resources to host countries and financial support to the national teams. “We need more funding for the sport in many countries,”  Schoeman stated. The key is collaboration with other teams and coaches, he added.

Collaboration

The cooperation will result in sharing of ideas and knowledge because most of the coaches in Mauritius were keen to build one another. Already, South Africa is keen to assist the development in Mauritius by holding regular camps In South Africa and Mauritius. “This tournament has the potential to grow,” the coach observed.

For the Rugby Cranes, the hard work is beginning to pay. They take a deserved break to enjoy the two wins and chart the way forward for the Challenger Series.

Day two results

Cup quarter finals: Madagascar 7 Tunisia 0, Burkina Faso 5 South Africa 27, Kenya 7 Zimbabwe 10, Uganda 32 Zambia 0; Semi-final: Zimbabwe 7 Uganda 24, Madagascar 14 South Africa 36; Third place play off: Zimbabwe 19 Madagascar 10; Final: South Africa 17 Uganda 20.

Fifth place semi-final; Zambia 5 Kenya 29, Tunisia 5 Burkina Faso 21; Final: Burkina faso 21 Kenya 12.

Seventh place final: Tunisia 12 Zambia 17

Ninth place semi-finals: Algeria 5 Nigeria 27, Ivory Coast 22 Mauritius 0; Final: Nigeria 10 Ivory Coast 17.

11th place final: Algeria 22 Mauritius 14.

Pool Results

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

Burkina Faso 29 Ivory Coast 12, Uganda 36 Tunisia 0, Burkina Faso 19 Tunisia 14, Uganda 29 Ivory Coast 12, Tunisia 31 Ivory Coast 12, Uganda 14 Burkina Faso 10, 

Pool B: Madagascar, Kenya, Zambia, Algeria.

Zambia 7 Kenya 26, Madagascar 33 Algeria 7, Kenya 0 Algeria 47, Madagascar 40 Zambia 5, Zambia 33 Algeria 0, Madagascar 24 Kenya 19, 

Pool C: South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Nigeria

Zimbabwe 31 Mauritius 7, South Africa 45 Nigeria 7, Nigeria 5 Zimbabwe 29, Mauritius 0 South Africa 43, Zimbabwe 12 South Africa 24, Nigeria 24 Mauritius 5.

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

Overall ranking: Uganda 40, South Africa 34, Madagascar 34, Zimbabwe 28, Burkina Faso 26, Kenya 20, Ivory Coast 12, Zambia 12, Tunisia 8, Mauritius 7, Nigeria 6, Algeria 3.