IRB RWC 2009 WOMEN’S 7’S QUALIFIERS TOURNAMENT
20th - 21st SEPTEMBER 2008
KAMPALA, UGANDA.

Venue: Kyadondo RFC grounds, Kampala, Uganda
Sponsors: Icemark, Afrihub
Weather: Cool and breezy on day one. Hot, bright and sunny on day two
Announcers: O’Brien Tindimweba, Diana Kenyagye.

Pool A	Pool B
SOUTH AFRICA	UGANDA
KENYA	TUNISIA
UGANDA A	ZIMBABWE
ZAMBIA	BOTSWANA

Lady Cranes Captain Christine Kizito drives over in the semi finals for the try that would take the Ugandan ladies to 2009 RWC final.

 

Kyadondo RFC played host to the first ever women’s RWC sevens qualifier in Africa.
Despite an early morning rain storm the pitch conditions turned out okay considering Kyadondo grounds are a wetland. There were hospitality tents arranged around the pitch, all sorts of drinks on sale, Club house chef-Michael’s delicious barbecue’s and music blaring from Uganda’s finest DJ-Jero

The announcers-a shabby looking O’Brien looking like a Caucasian hippie and the very rotund and curvaceous Diana-kept the crowd/players abreast of the on pitch proceedings.

Lady Boks from South Africa came into the tournament as top seeds followed by Uganda, Tunisia and Kenya in that order. The rules stipulated after the group matches on day one the teams would be seeded again with seed 1 playing seed 4 while seed 2 would play seed 3.

DAY ONE

In pool A as expected South Africa flew out of the blocks demolishing all group opponents without even conceding a single try. They were clearly in their own class. Kenya recovered from an early scare to pip hard fighting Zambia 20-19,before defeating Uganda A, but found the going too tough against South Africa loosing heavily.

Hosts Uganda also started in bullish fashion breezing past Botswana and Zimbabwe in Pool B but narrowly lost by 2 tries to 1 against a well-drilled Tunisian side in the last game of the day. Tunisia had prepared for the tournament thoroughly including a training stint in South Africa. Though generally lacking in pace and strength Tunisia exhibited some sublime ball handling skills and footwork. They were a joy to watch. The Lady Cranes completely dominated the first half camping in the Tunisian 22 but just couldn’t finish despite Winnie Atyang and Christine Kizito going close twice. The half ended with no score. At the restart Helen Buteme who had practically carried the team on her shoulders flew down the right flank to score Uganda’s first try that was not converted. The Tunisian flying winger canceled out Helen’s try in the second half by out sprinting the cover defense. The Tunisians sealed the win when they caught the Ugandan full back out of position with a box kick from a turnover, the chase resulted in a winning try for Tunisia. Cranes lost playmaker Charlotte Mudoola through concussion in this match as their injury woes piled up.

                                              DAY TWO

Day 2 begun with controversy as Kenya tried to circumvent the tournament rules to avoid facing Lady Boks in the main cup semis. The Kenyans by passed protocol choosing to email Irb and complain saying they believed they were in a group competition not seeding competition. Irb was having none of that and the tournament proceeded as earlier planned.

In the first semi final Kenya battled hard scoring first at the corner flag but the Lady Boks just had too much class as they run out convincing winners.

The second semi final between Tunisia and Uganda was another tense affair as the hosts now had a chance to avenge their day one defeat. Lady Cranes scored off a penalty after Captain Christine Kizito powered her huge frame over the try line-right in front of the sponsor’s tent. Hellen Buteme converted to give Uganda a 7-0 lead. The game was finely balanced with the Tunisians pressing in attack as the Ugandans defended like their lives depended on it. The scores remained the same at the final hooter bringing wild celebrations from the players, coaching staff and the partisan Ugandan crowd. By qualifying for the main cup final South Africa and Uganda had already booked their tickets to the 2009 RWC sevens to be held in Dubai.

Tunisia unfortunately turned out to be bad losers as they confronted the referee at the final whistle resulting in the Tunisian coach spitting on the referee. This was cited and reported to the overseer from Irb Mr Cliffy Booysen.The verdict from the CAR/Irb disciplinary committee will be released at a future date

Coach David Mutaka and his assistant Robert Soggy Seguya (who are both from the Kyadondo stable) wore relieved expressions on their faces as they had made history in helping these ladies qualify for the RWC. This is the first team sport from Uganda to qualify for an open world cup competition.

Uganda faced off with South Africa in the final but with the mounting injury toll and some laxity-perhaps because they had already secured world cup qualification-their challenge was feeble at best as they went down 24-00 to a sustained Lady Bok attack.

Kenya won third place by winning the plate 15-14 against Tunisia, Zambia won the bowl tournament while Uganda A won the shield competition.

We at Fanzone would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the ladies on a momentous achievement and commend the heavily under funded women’s body for a job well done.

PREPARATIONS START NOW

After a rest period it is imperative the preparations begin now, as the Dubai RWC tournament is only six months away. Irene Namapii president of the UWRA says plans are already in high gear to get the girls a proper training schedule. This is very encouraging talk and a lesson to men about early preparations
There is already talk about a budget proposal to be sold to sponsors in regard to plans for a foreign based training camp, a strict fitness, strength, conditioning and nutrition schedule from a qualified professional, participation in international tournaments/friendlies.etc.I can only say again the ladies are clearly setting the pace for the men and will be worthy ambassadors for Uganda on the world stage.

By Peter ofong
Sports Scribe.(Click on the link for comments and reactions)