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The Baby Cranes were on the verge of being relegated to the repecharge game as they fought back from 12-5 down at halftime to win 21-17 against Madagascar to finish 7th.
The Uganda U-20 Rugby Cranes coach Emmanuel Katuntu and the team will return to Kampala knowing they gave everything to maintain Uganda’s status in the Barthes Trophy.
The Baby Cranes were on the verge of being relegated to the repecharge game as they fought back from 12-5 down at halftime to win 21-17 against Madagascar to finish 7th.
Katuntu says having earlier preparations will be critical for Uganda to perform better in the next Barthes Trophy edition.
“We shall build on this and ensure that we start our preparations much earlier so that we have a better group that we can return with (in Kenya) for the next Barthes Cup tournament,” Katuntu noted.
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12:29 - 30.04.2023
RUGBY Baby Rugby Cranes leave it late to keep Barthes Trophy status
The loser of the 7th place playoff at the U20 Barthes Trophy drops to the repechage game, and Uganda looked headed there after falling behind at halftime 12-5.
The Baby Cranes might have finished 7th but had stand-out individual performances from players like captain Clavin Gizamba, Arnold Jones Ocen, Arthur Opio and Gift Wokorach.
“We had to dig deep and believe in ourselves because we had it in us to fight back, yes, we did a few things wrong, but we settled in the second half and won,” Katuntu added.
Zimbabwe defended their trophy by beating the hosts and crowd favourites Kenya 21-07 in front of a packed crowd at the Nyayo stadium on Saturday.
The two teams will be Africa’s representatives at the Junior World Trophy in July.
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