Odindo Ayieko
9 October 2007
Nairobi — TEN YEARS AGO, THE BIGGEST rugby tournament Uganda had ever played in was the Tusker Safari Sevens, hosted annually by Kenya.
Uganda have been the whipping boys of African rugby for some time now. Indeed, Kenya used to walk over them at will - but not any more.
Today, Uganda have surpassed Kenya, hitherto the biggest rugby playing nation in the East and Central Africa region; last week, they were crowned the Confederation of Africa Rugby (CAR) champions.
The past few years have seen a shift in the balance and Kenya are now underdogs in any contest with Uganda - the semi final clash in the CAR championships in Antananarivo, Madagascar can attests to that. Uganda hammered Kenya 24-12 to set themselves on course for their first ever African title which they claimed by beating hosts Madagascar 42-11.
Claims by Kenya rugby players that Uganda are their younger brothers have been rubbished and now Uganda deserve the bragging rights in not only East African but continental rugby.
"It seems almost surreal that we can now say we are champions of African rugby, " Uganda Cranes team manager Henry Musoke was quoted as saying in the press last week after his team's victory.
Uganda applied to join the International Rugby Board in 1997 and slowly but surely, the country started building a team they believed would match the best in Africa one day.
THEY MADE SEVERAL APPE-arances in the Safari Sevens where they were badly beaten but they would retreat to Kampala and regroup. Stronger and stronger they grew until they gained such confidence that now Kenya cannot match the Uganda's success in the 15s competition.
In their past five matches against each other, culminating in the semi-final clash in the CAR championships, Uganda has won thrice, drawn once and lost once.
Uganda's tournament started with a game against Morocco, a team, that had hammered them 36-3 in Casablanca earlier in the year. This humiliating loss lit a fire under the Cranes that, more than anything else, took them to the top of African rugby.
For starters, the Uganda Rugby Union recruited South African tactician Chester Williams who, within a short period, has transformed the team into one of the most feared sides on the continent.
In his first game in charge, he led the team to a historical 32-7 mauling over giants Ivory Coast, took West African powerhouse Cameroon to school before a stunning 22-20 victory over old nemesis Kenya in the Elgon Cup in Nairobi.
Such victories have seen Uganda improve tremendously in world ranking from 62nd to 50th position.
While the game in Kenya continues to decline, Uganda are on a high.
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