Pirates rugby club`s experienced rugger, Ivan Magomu will carry the weight of leading the National Rugby 15’s team past three gruesome rough encounters – The Double legged annual Elgon Cup against, and, the Africa Rugby Cup in France.
Expected to be the hinge for Uganda National Rugby, Magomu was named captain of the Titanic Squad of Ruggers on Friday morning. Uganda rugby July diary presents three competitive assignments to the15’s aside National rugby team. The Tournaments in July alone somewhat give certain fright starting with the Rugby Africa Cup to be hosted in France from 1st-10th July 2022.
Barely twenty days after the French trip, the team will be hosting the Elgon Cup with the first leg being on 23rd July at either Kyadondo or Legends grounds before they travel across Migingo for the second leg on July 30th in the Kenyan Capital of Nairobi.
The ‘Migingo Derby’
The Elgon Cup dubbed the ‘Migingo derby’ is contested between the rugby union teams of Kenya and Uganda. The men’s and women’s teams of these countries each compete annually for their respective cups on a Home-and-Away basis.
The competition and the cups are named after Mount Elgon, a mountain on the border of the two countries.
The men’s competition started in 2004 while the women’s Elgon Cup followed it a few years later, in 2006. The Elgon cup has now been subsumed into the recently inaugurated Victoria Cup. The women’s games generally serve as a curtain raiser to the men’s games.
When they last met in 2019, the Rugby Cranes won the first leg 16-13 in Kisumu but Kenya Simbas won 16-5 in Kampala to grab the bragging rights of the Cup by two East African neighboring brothers. The 2020 and 2021 were called off due the Covid19 pandemic that affected all the sports industry world over.
Rugby Africa Cup 2022 (France)
Eight nations will arrive in the south of France hoping to book a return to the Rugby World Cup 2023 host nation through the Rugby Africa Cup 2022. This event in France doubles as the final round of Rugby World Cup 2023 qualifying for teams on the continent. It will take place between 1-10 July, 2022.
The tournament will be held at Stade Maurice-David in Aix-en-Provence and Stade Pierre-Delort in Marseille, which hosted the RWC 2019 Final Qualification Tournament. The winner of the eight-team knockout competition will book a return to France 14 months later as Africa 1 at RWC 2023.
The Africa 1 qualifier has been drawn in Pool A alongside New Zealand, hosts France, Italy and Uruguay. Whoever finishes as runners-up following the much-anticipated Rugby Africa Cup 2022 final on 10 July will still have a chance of qualifying for RWC 2023 through the Final Qualification Tournament.
Namibia, who are bidding to reach a seventh successive Rugby World Cup, Senegal, Uganda and Zimbabwe qualified for the quarter-finals as pool winners. They have been joined in the last eight by pool runners-up Burkina Faso, Algeria, Kenya and Ivory Coast.
Burkina Faso, the lowest competing nation on the World Rugby Men’s Rankings powered by Capgemini at 91, will take on Namibia, while Senegal play Algeria, Uganda face Kenya and Zimbabwe are scheduled to meet Ivory Coast between 1-2 July.
The winner of the quarter-final between Namibia and Burkina Faso will meet either Zimbabwe or Ivory Coast – who have appeared at three Rugby World Cups between them – in the semi-finals. Either Senegal or Algeria will then play the winner of the quarter-final between Uganda and East Africa rivals Kenya for a place in the final.
A bronze final, as well as fifth-place and seventh-place play-offs, will be held on 10 July prior to the final, in which Africa’s representative at RWC 2023 will be decided. The Rugby Africa Cup 2022 is a milestone on the road to Rugby World Cup 2023 and will be a magnificent celebration ahead of time in France and a great opportunity to contribute to the development of African rugby.
The tournament will honor the emerging rugby unions, who are changing the sport of rugby and represent the strength of tomorrow. Playing this competition in the France that will also host the next Rugby World Cup will highlight the technical and physical skills of African best players and will contribute to the development of rugby on the continent.
The Rugby 15s World Cup qualifiers in France maintains the neutrality of the hosting country and guaranteed the attraction of more fans. Like Zimbabwe and Kenya, Uganda has tough sessions ahead in preparing for these tournaments.
Selected Rugby Cranes for the July Campign
Akera Komaketch, Joseph Aredo, Arthur Mpande, Asuman Mugerwa, Aziku Robert, Tawfik Bagalana, Chissano Joachim, Emmanuel Ecodu, Emong Eliphaz, Paul Epilo, Thomas Gwokto, Juuko Jude, Kanyanya Ronald, Kato Reynolds, Khani Aziziz, Colin Kimbowa, Ivan Kirabo, Saul Kivumbi, Ivan Magomu (Captain), Manano Alhaji, James Mugisha, Jacob Ochen, Uhuru Charles, Timothy Odongo, Faragi Odugo, Pius Ogena, Okia Solomon, George Scott Olwuoch, Michael Otto, Joseph Oyet, Alema Ruhweza, Lawrence Ssebuliba, Santos Ssenteza, Wanyama Conrad, Philip Wokorach.
Tournaments in July:
Elgon Cup First Leg (Uganda)
23rd July 2022
Second leg (Kenya)
30th July 2022
Rugby Africa Cup (France)
1st-10th July 2022
Author Profile
- Mr. Daniels N. Tatya is an affluent Sports Writer, Commentator and Editor. His over 15 years of covering almost major sporting events makes him a revered and an authority on investigative Sports journalism in Uganda. He can also be reached via [email protected] +256(0)758268315
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