The Uganda Rugby Sevens men’s national team is among the teams to participate in the incoming World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series 2023 in South Africa.
The games are stated to commence on April 20–22 and April 28–30, 2023. The games will be played at Markotter Stadium in Stellenbosch, South Africa.
The national rugby sevens team will start training on Thursday, and this will include medical checkups ahead of April’s Challenger Series.
The team is set to train from home for about 2 weeks before they set off for the first set of action, which will start on the 20th through the 22nd of April 2023.
The rugby cranes’ head coach, Tolbert Onyango, is said to have summoned some players, among whom some new names have been called to be part of the 18 players summoned; among those new faces are Ivan Otai of Makerere Impis, Plascon Mongers’ William Lukwago, and Rams’ Hossana Opileni.
In this coming Challengers Rugby Sevens Series, some of the countries to take part with Uganda include Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Jamaica, Korea, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, and Zimbabwe.
The pools are yet to be drawn and confirmed, and each team will get to know who they start to play first and their respective groups.
The winner of the men’s Challenger Series will enter a four-team play-off at the HSBC London Sevens in May 2023, together with the teams placed 12th–14th after ten rounds of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
The Uganda Rugby Sevens team, who also played in the HSBC Sevens in Dubai and in the Cape Town Sevens, failed to get a single win in the series of games, which was partly attributed to the absence of starting star player Phillip Wokorach, who held the team most of the time and also plays for a French-based club, which had a huge impact on the team.
Uganda Sevens Summoned Team
Michael Wokorach (Heathens)
Aaron Ofoyrwoth (Heathens)
Nobert Okeny (Heathens)
Alex Aturinda (Pirates)
Timothy Kisiga (Pirates)
Mubarak Wandera (Pirates)
Desire Ayera (Pirates)
Adrian Kasito (Kobs)
Ian Munyani (Kobs)
Karim Arinaitwe (Kobs)
Timothy Mugisha (Jinja Hippos)
Denis Etwau (Jinja Hippos)
Yasin Waiswa (Jinja Hippos)
Ivan Otai (Impis)
William Lukwago (Mongers)
Hossana Opileni (Rams)
Aaron Tukei (Buffaloes)
Philip Wokorach (Avenir Sportif de Bedarrides Chateaneuf du-Pape Vaucluse Rugby)
