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Winning both tournaments will earn Uganda a ticket to the World Rugby Sevens Series and next year’s Olympic Games in Paris.
The Uganda Rugby Sevens had such a brilliant 2022, winning the Rugby Africa Sevens as hosts and displaying good rugby at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
With all that success now in the past, the 19-man squad, which was summoned on Monday, continues preparations ahead of another gruesome international sevens season, where they will feature at the Rugby Africa Cup and the World Rugby Challenger series.
Winning both tournaments will earn Uganda a ticket to the World Rugby Sevens Series and next year’s Olympic Games in Paris.
Head coach Tolbert Onyango says the players have settled in well for training and highlighted the need to work on the team’s intensity and body conditioning.
“Training has kicked off well; the boys are excited to be back practising with the national team for the next two months,” he noted.
“We need to try and get ourselves into a high-intensity mood to match the intensity for other teams because we’ve been off the sevens schedule for a while now, so we need to get our conditioning right.”
Onyango also suggested that the team needs to work on attaining a good playing structure and solid defence which he says will also be vital.
“We also need to get ourselves in the right playing and defence structures. If we can achieve that, then we should be in a good position,” Onyango said.
Rams’ Hossana Opileni (RAMS), William Lukwago from Mongers, Mark Osuna (KOBs), Yasin Wasswa (Jinja Hippos), Allan Olango (Rhinos), and Ivan Otai (Impis) are new players joining the usual suspects.
Fullback Phillip Wokorach, who turns out for French third division side Avenir Sportif Bédarrides-Chateuneuf du Pape (A.S.B.C), is the only missing player but is expected to join up with the team in April due to his club commitments.
Uganda is scheduled to play at the world challenger series in two rounds on April 22nd - 23rd and 29th-30th in Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Jamaica, Korea, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Uganda, and Zimbabwe are the teams that will take part in the Challenger Series.
The winner of the men’s Challenger Series, which also features 12 teams, will enter a four-team playoff at the HSBC London Sevens in May 2023.
They will be joined by the teams placed 12th-14th after ten rounds of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, with the winner of the playoff achieving Sevens World Series 2024 status.
Additionally, the Rugby Africa Men’s Sevens is scheduled for September 17-18, 2023 in Zimbabwe.
Uganda Rugby Sevens Summoned Squad
Ian Arnold Munyani- (KOBs), Desire Ayera- (Stanbic Black Pirates), Alex Aturinda- (Stanbic Black Pirates), Michael Okorach- (Heathens), Nobert Sexton Okeny- (Heathens), Aaron Ofoyrworth- (Heathens), Timothy Kisiga- (Stanbic Black Pirates), Denis Etwau- (Jinja Hippos), Mubarak Wandera- (Stanbic Black Pirates), Hossana Opileni- (Rams), Timothy Mugisha Arocko- (Jinja Hippos), William Lukwago- (Mongers), Yasin Waiswa- (Jinja Hippos), Otai Ivan- (Impis), Aaron Tukei- (Buffaloes), Philip Wokorach- (Avenir Sportif de Bedarrides Chateaneuf-du-Pape Vaucluse Rugby, France), Allan Olango Olweny – (Rhinos), Mark Osuna – (KOBs).
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