Partly as an international test match, the Rugby cranes will face the Sables from Zimbabwe in the Victoria cup on Saturday 30th July at Legends rugby grounds in Kampala.
The Cup comes as a stand-in for the Elgon cup that was canceled following Kenya’s pull-out of the tournament.
Kenya cited the forthcoming presidential elections in August as a hindrance to the preparation of the second leg therefore drawing out, according to their Rugby union.
Uganda’s Rugby Union then turned to organizing the Victoria cup as a way to compensate for the local rugby fraternity that has been hungry for an event.
The rugby cranes just returned from the 2022 Africa Cup in France where they managed to up their rankings despite a false start and failure to make it to the world cup.
But according to the team’s captain Ivan Magomu who relates the team’s duty to that of soldiers who never shun duty calls, travel fatigue is no excuse for the gentlemen.
“We had a good experience in France compared to the preps we had here and we improved in the ranking despite the hurdles.” Ivan told the press
Uganda finished 5th at the Africa Cup trailing a spot behind Zimbabwe who finished fourth and are ranked 32nd in the world, eight positions ahead of Uganda.
” We are excited about Saturday it’s been a long time, last time we had a game, the fans were not allowed so this will be a good experience.” He added
The cranes this Saturday seek to revenge against Zimbabwe who beat them home and away in the 2019 edition of the same cup.
There will be a screening of the rugby 7s in Birmingham before a curtain raiser game at 2pm and there after, the main game at 4pm.
“For us it’s international test season and this runs three to four months. The camp is aware of the task since Zimbabwe finished fourth and they are ranked 32nd.” The Team Manager echoed
He also said that the team and coaches are highly motivated, and though they love to beat a Kenyan, but beating a Zimbabwean is good for them as well.
The sables are expected to jet in before Friday midnight, just hours before the much-awaited game.
