The Uganda Rugby Cranes have defeated Zimbabwe to lift the 2022 Rugby Africa 7s title.
Coach Tolbert Onyango’s team stopped Zimbabwe 28-0 in the final played at the Kyadondo Rugby ground in Kampala, Uganda.
Uganda took a 7-0 half time lead after Ian Munyani scored an early try, and Philip Wokorach made no mistake with the conversion.
Uganda’s captain Michael Wokorach also got his name on the score sheet before Timothy Kisiga added two tries to seal it for the home side.
The victory also sees Uganda qualify for the Commonwealth Games and the Rugby World Cup 7s that will take place in Cape Town, South Africa.
Kenya which lost to Uganda in the semi-final stage also booked a place in the Rugby World Cup 7s after they defeated Zambia 19-12 in the play-off for third place.
Onyango praised his team for the hard work which saw them win all the matches in the tournament. “We started preparing for this tournament over a year ago and this has eventually paid off,” said Uganda’s coach Onyango.
Denis Hamson Obua, Uganda’s State Minister for Sports also thanked the team for making the country proud. “ We thank the Uganda Rugby Cranes for booking a ticket to the Rugby World Cup 7s, Commonwealth Games and also emerging as Champions of Africa,” said Obua.
Besides Uganda, the other teams that participated in the tournament included Burundi, Kenya, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Botswana, Namibia, Ghana, Zambia, Cameroon, Tunisia and Mauritius.
Uganda’s squad
Karim Arinaitwe, Desire Ayera, Ivan Claude Otema, Philip Wokorach, (Captain), Adrian Kasito, Isaac Massanganzira, Kelvin Balagadde, Ian Munyani, Nobert Okeny, Timothy Kisiga.
