The Nile Special Rugby Premier League temporarily went in for a short break starting with match day 16, and for an exciting reason led to it.
Whereas the rest of the Ugandan rugby fraternity will use this time to get some much needed rest, restrategize, realign and reassemble, the Rugby Sevens cohort will be making final touches to their preparations, in anticipation of the Rugby Africa Sevens tournament.
On the 23rd and 24th of April, Kampala is going to be graced by 14 of some of the best rugby playing nations from across the continent of Africa.
The tournament, which will also double as the the qualifier to the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town, South Africa, has attracted a fat sponsorship package from Uganda’s number one rugby fan, Nile Breweries Uganda Limited, who are currently sponsoring the local rugby league.
The tournament was officially launched on Thursday, 7th April at Kyadondo Rugby Club in Kampala.
The launch was attended by representatives from Rugby Africa, Uganda Rugby Union, main sponsors Nile Breweries Ltd and the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) lead by Philip Kiboijana who promised a “fun-filled carnival setting” at Kyadondo.
Rugby Afrique Vice President, Mr. Godwin Kayangwe also promised a conducive environment for all participating teams including defending champions Kenya, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Madagascar, Senegal among others.
14 Man Squad Named
This morning, Coach Tolbert Onyango named his 14 man squad to participate in the tournament, with young speed star, Karim Arinaitwe earning a well deserved call up. He has been very phenomenal for the Kampala Old Boys (KOBS) Rugby Club in the Nile Special Rugby Premier League. France based Philip Wokorach is another notable returnee to the squad.
The squad shall be captained by Michael Wokorach and he shall be deputized by Ian Munyani.
Here is the rest of the team:
Michael Wokorach, Philip Wokorach, Adrian Kasito, Aaron Ofoyrworth, Claude Otema, Kelvin Balaggade, Timothy Kisiga, William Nkore, Desire Ayera, Ian Munyani, Alex Aturinda, Nobert Okeny, Karim Arinaitwe, and Isaac Newton Massa.
Gates shall open at 7AM and Uganda’s first match of the day shall be at 8:22am against Burundi. Lets go Rugby Cranes!
