This page is also available in: Français (French)

Uganda 7s shines – Congratulated by Rugby Africa after their huge progress in 2016, Uganda makes a strong impression on the worldstage ! After their performance in Dubai and Cape Town 7s, we wanted to know their impressions…

(Rugby Africa)- You just lived a stunning experience in Dubai and Cape Town, what memories will you keep in mind ?
(Uganda Rugby Union) The experience of sharing a change room in Dubai with the Olympic champions and getting pep talks from them are lasting experiences. Also the experience of seeing how the core sides prepare for their games over the two legs was something we shall take with us. 

– What impressed you most during these two tournaments ? A special atmosphere ? A great brotherhood … ?
The support both crowds gave to our team was the most impressive

– How did you prepare for this kind of events ?
We had 8 weeks of preparation and it was mainly on skills training. we had no game time and little work with S&C given the closeness of the tournaments from the time we qualified

– What lesson do you take from these tournaments ?

Key lesson is that a good preparation is key for the players to understand each other better. 

– Are you satisfied with the team you fielded ? Do you want to continue with this one or change it a little bit ?
We are largely satisfied with the team fielded. It is a very young team with the average age being 22 years. and we only made two changes from the team that won the Africa 7s in September. so yes, this is largely the team for the future. We shall however train for HongKong included the 6 players who were left behind and depending on how they train, there could be changes.

– Is Uganda Rugby Union shifting its focus towards 7s rugby or will fifteen-a-side high performance rugby still be equally important ?
Right now they are equally important. It is important that we stay in 1A at the 15s so that we can challenge for a RWC place in the qualifiers in 2018. It is also important that we maintain focus on the 7s so that we have a good chance at achieving core team status in HongKong in April 2017.

– What happened this year ? What worked better and got you all the way to the HSBC World Series ? What was different from the previous seasons ?
This year, we chose a much younger team than all previous years and kept the team together undisrupted and focussed. Also key was keeping the 7s management over 3 years now and they have focussed solely on this team.

– How do you consider the future ?
The future is not easy. it only gets tougher as the teams continue to do better. Key to the future is funding and only hope that the Uganda Governement can come in and support the national teams