Rugby Cranes center Joseph Aredo believes the lessons learnt from this year’s Rugby Africa Cup will be key in next year’s tournament as the side targets qualification for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
Uganda finished fifth having overcome Senegal 34-31 in the fifth place final at Mandela National Stadium, Namboole on Sunday.
The closely contested game ended 23-23 in normal time to force extra time, a Timothy Kisiga try coupled with a Joseph Aredo penalty were not enough to seal the result in the additional 20 minutes as Senegal held on to send the game into sudden death.
The utility back sealed the result with the decisive play to ensure the hosts finished fifth winning two and losing one of the three games played.
“This tournament has shown us where we lie as a team against the rest of Africa in our quest to play at the 2027 Rugby World Cup. As a team it has enlightened us and our bonds have grown,” Aredo noted.
The Rugby Cranes will need to improve on their performance next year if the Mudoola-coached side is to seal a first-ever global appearance.
Aredo is optimistic the side will be ready for the task.
“We need to work on our starts including the kicking, line outs, scrummages together with our attack and defense with focus on where our points come from to be a better team. It’s the first time we have had this kind of preparation so it’s good for the team,” he said.
Zimbabwe emerged champions for the first time since 2012 having seen off Algeria 29-3 in the final while Namibia won bronze ahead of Kenya. Burkina Faso lost to Ivory Coast in the relegation battle to drop to the tier 1B.
