Ismail Dhakaba Kigongo
20 June 2011
Kampala — Upon the completion of the Africa Cup group 1B tournament on Saturday, the Rugby Cranes technical team wore a mixed look of grin and frown.
Ordinarily, not many would fault them for celebrating the 58-30 rout of Madagascar. It was pain reliever from the 25-15 loss to event winners Zimbabwe Sables. Head coach Yayiro Musisi Kasasa wore a grin, his assistant Peter Magona was plain whereas forwards tutor Fred Mudoola was a cross between angry and unimpressed.
At least they all agreed that after leading 48-7 at the break against the Markis, something was terribly wrong as the latter made the score respectable. “Conditioning,” they all said in chorus. Sound easy since the cause is known so finding a remedy should be like getting a knife through cheese. “This conditioning is not only about the gym, it entails much more like conditioning for a rugby game mentally to be able to play and tackle for 80 minutes,” Mudoola exokained.
Defensively, the team is leaking lots of points. Fielding by the back three is wanting. The forwards run out steam in the final 20-25 minutes. The backline equation is as hard as before. They were not being too hard on the team as there are many positives to build upon. “There is a lot we can build on going forward,” Kasasa said.
Superb Kimono
“In the two games, we have hard different man of the match winners in (wing) Justin (Kimono) against Zimbabwe and (flanker Robert) Seguya today.” Kimono showed a glimpse of the future with three tries, including a brace on debut.
In all, the team managed 13 tries which should be a good haul. Besides Kimono, Evans Kingasia, Timothy Kabonero, Brian Kikawa, Denis Mugambe and Arthur Mukama donned the national stripe for the first time over the past week. “It’s good that Ugandans are expectant and have faith in the team. We all need to work and build for the journey ahead,” Mudoola added.
Fixtures – Victoria Cup
Saturday:
Zimbabwev Kenya
July 2:
Zimbabwe v Uganda
Elgon Cup
July 9:
Kenya v Uganda
July 16:
Uganda v Kenya
AllAfrica – All the Time