Familiar foes present toughest tests for ruggers

By Ismail Dhakaba Kigongo

The pathway to the first African Games gold medal on rugby’s debut is clearly designed to deliver a mouth-watering finale on Thursday.

Uganda, with genuine designs on the titles in Accra, Ghana, will have to beat familiar foes to clinch the inaugural championship. Both the men’s and women’s competitions will be played on a round-robin basis before a winner is decided.

Only three countries – hosts Ghana, Tunisia and Uganda – have entered teams in both events that start on Tuesday with the men. In the men’s competition, the trio Uganda, Kenya and Zimbabwe are expected to steamroll Ghana, Tunisia, Burkina Faso and Benin.

However, Tunisia cannot be underestimated by any of the teams hoping to win the overall title. On the final day, the fancied trio will clash in the hope of deciding a winner.

The three have dominated the podium in the recent Africa Cup Sevens tournaments. Kenya won last year’s edition with Uganda finishing third and hosts Zimbabwe fourth. In 2022 at Kyadondo Rugby Club, the order from first to third was Uganda-Zimbabwe-Kenya. Read more

 

 

Written by Reporter