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Jinja Hippos Rugby Club has unveiled Charles Onen as their head coach on a one-year contract.

Onen assumes the role in the place of Robert Seguya who is battling leukemia.

In addition to Onen who will be in charge of the senior XV and Sevens squads, Kevin Makmot has been appointed as backs coach.

Makmot will also be responsible for Hippos’ development club, Kiira Crocs. Sean Baldwin maintains his role as forwards coach.

Hippos chairman Jonan Manzi says they are excited to welcome the two coaches as the club builds on the progress made under Seguya.

“Everyone at the club is very excited to welcome these two young coaches as we look to build on the incredible progress of the team under previous head coach Robert Seguya, who took Hippos from bottom of the league at Christmas 2018 to a fourth-place finish last season.

“While Soggy’s illness has necessitated the change, we are confident that in these two we have identified the best coaches to take us on the next stage of our journey,” he said.

Jinja Hippos will be without their captain Maxwell Ebonga for most of the upcoming season after he sustained an injury.

The utility back tore the ACL in his right knee during pre-season training two weeks ago.

The recovery and rehabilitation time for an ACL injury is known to take six to nine months, which confirms Ebonga will most likely miss the entire 2021-22 season.

The local rugby season includes the national Sevens series, the Premier League, and the international window.

Ebonga was the overall top points scorer in the league last season.

In the absence of Ebonga, Jinja Hippos have good options in Denis Etwau at full back and Edrine Lemerigar or Opio Jackson at the wing.

The quarterfinal pairings of the Rugby Africa Cup have been confirmed following the completion of the group stage on Thursday.

Zimbabwe demolished Burkina Faso 95-05 in the final match of Pool D in Harare to top the group.

The quarterfinals of the tournament which serves as the 2023 Rugby World Cup qualifier will see Pool C winners Uganda face Pool B runners-up Kenya. The East African rivals will be playing for a maiden appearance at the global competition.

Zimbabwe will play Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal will battle Algeria while Burkina Faso will face the toughest and strongest opponent in the competition, Namibia.

The dates for the quarterfinal matches will be announced by Rugby Africa in the due course.

Rugby Africa Cup Quarterfinals

Uganda Lady Rugby Cranes were the biggest climbers in the latest World Rugby Women’s Rankings after the conclusion of the July 17-18 international test matches.

The Lady Rugby Cranes beat Zimbabwe twice in a space of four days to climb eight places from 39th to 31st on the World Rugby Rankings. They currently have 40.94 points according to the World Rugby Points Exchange system.

The two test matches played were under the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup 2021 bracket in Kampala, Uganda with the hosts winning 41-00 and 34-03.

Kenya and Madagascar had an identical tournament in Nairobi, Kenya but there were no trophies or standings awarded at the end.

Meanwhile, following their 22-16 shock defeat to Algeria, the Uganda Rugby Cranes fell 10 places from 41st to 51st in the World Rugby Men’s Rankings.

Uganda Rugby Cranes advanced to the quarterfinals of the Rugby Africa Cup as Pool C leaders despite a shock defeat to Algeria on Sunday.

The Lion Cubs of Algeria came into the game needing a victory to secure a quarterfinal berth and played with a lot of urgency and energy that the Ugandans couldn’t match for 80 minutes.

Loree Mathieu put Algeria on the scoreboard within five minutes with a penalty and converted Djamel’s try for an early 10-00 lead.

However, former Rugby Cranes captain Brian Odong powered over and moments later current skipper Ivan Magomu added a penalty to cut Uganda’s deficit to 2 points (10-08).

Magomu and full-back Adrian Kasito combined for the best try of the game with the flyhalf delivering a perfect short ball to Kasito who attacked a gap to dot down for a 13-08 lead.

Uganda’s lead was however short-lived as the Lion Cubs powered over after and line-out and maul with Nadir grounding for a 15-13 halftime lead.

After the break, Algeria bullied their way to try line with Reda grounding and Mathieu converting for a 22-13 lead.

Jinja Hippos winger Maxwell Ebonga split the posts with a penalty but Uganda could not break down Algeria.

The Uganda Lady Rugby Cranes took care of Zimbabwe again in the 2021 Rugby Africa Women’s Cup winning the Sunday afternoon tie 34-03 at Kyadondo.

Lady Rugby Cranes scored four converted tries, two in each half, coupled with a pair of penalties to follow up the 41-00 win registered on Wednesday.

While the hosts started slow, Charlotte Mudoola’s penalty conversion helped calm some nerves and later the Lady Cranes started to take control of the match.

Team captain Peace Lekuru led the team with two tries both of which came on a silver platter following good interplay from fellow backliners.

Despite having a lot of possession, Zimbabwe never really troubled Uganda whose discipline was wanting, getting two (Winnie Atyang and Yvonne Najjuma) players sin-binned. Unlike the first game, Zimbabwe had better scrummaging although their lineouts were terrible.

Emily Lekuru and Faith Namugga scored the second-half tries for Uganda before Delight Dananai converted a penalty for Zimbabwe.

Uganda’s head coach Leonard Lubambula will be happy with the results but he still has work to do with combinations and structure of play.

Uganda Lady Rugby Cranes head coach Leonard Lubambula has made just one change to the team that will take on Zimbabwe in the second game of the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup.

Teddy Iwutung will start the Sunday lunchtime kick-off at Kyadondo Rugby Club in the place of Sarah Kirabo in the second row.

The rest of the team is unchanged with Zauma Nahyuha still in line to make her debut off the bench.

The Lady Rugby Cranes made light work of the Women Sables in the first test on Wednesday and will be looking to build on that momentum by playing better.

The match will be broadcast LIVE on Kawowo Sports YouTube channel.

Uganda Lady Rugby Cranes squad (* for Debutant)

The Rugby Africa Cup resumes on Sunday, July 18 with Pool C hosts Uganda taking on Algeria at Kyadondo Rugby Club.

Rugby Cranes coaches have made changes to the team that played Ghana in the opener with prop Asuman Mugerwa, loose forward Mark Omoding, halfback Aaron Ofoyrwoth and winger Maxwell Ebonga all starting.

Mugerwa replaces Santos Senteza in the front row, Omoding is in for Kelvin Balagadde at blindside flanker, Ofoyrwoth starts ahead of Paul Epilo at scrum-half while Ebonga replaces Solomon Okia who has been shifted to midfield in the absence of injured Justin Kimono.

The 6-2 split on the bench includes Mongers Rugby Club’s Joaquim Chissano who will be waiting to make his national team debut.

“We know Sunday will be a tough day for us in office but we are ready for whatever is going to be thrown at us,” head coach Brian Makalama said ahead of the tie.

The match will be broadcast LIVE on Kawowo Sports YouTube channel.

Uganda Rugby Cranes Squad (* for Debutants)

Uganda Rugby Union has announced that the first leg fixture of the 2021 Elgon Cup has been postponed.

The communication was made via the union’s official Twitter handle on Wednesday, June 16, 2021.

The decision has been taken in consultation with Kenya Rugby Union. A surge in the COVID-19 infections has been credited for the decision.

This comes at a time when Uganda is currently on a 42-day countrywide lockdown that has suspended all sports activities without prior COVID-19 tests and also banned fans from the stadiums.

The Elgon Cup was initially scheduled for Saturday, June 12, 2021 (this past weekend) and July 31, 2021, according to the Return-to-Rugby protocol shared by the union early this year in February.

Uganda Lady Rugby Cranes proved too strong for Zimbabwe following a one-sided 41-00 win in the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup on Wednesday afternoon at Kyadondo.

Zimbabwe started the game on the front foot, enjoying possession and playing expansively across the pitch, and kept the Lady Cranes in their own territory. The Lady Sables were, however, slow and ineffective at racking and the Ugandans forced many turnovers.

The Lady Rugby Cranes began to grow into the game after ten minutes and started to play with structure putting together a few good phases of play with quick offloads and short passes.

Full back Samiya Ayikoru put Uganda on the scoreboard after a quick break but Charlotte Mudoola missed the conversion. Emilly Lekuru scored Uganda’s second try from a scrum for a 10-00 halftime lead.

With Uganda dominating the breakdowns and scrums, all the team needed in the second half was to move the ball faster to the wings and the effort was rewarded with five tries.

Captain and center Peace Lekuru scored two tries, winger Grace Auma ran in one, Emily Lekuru got her second of the game, while Asha Nakityo powered over for a forward’s try to complete the rout.

The two sides will face off again on Sunday, July 18.