Zimbabwe Eliminates Uganda in Rugby Africa Cup 2024 Quarterfinals
KAMPALA, Uganda – Zimbabwe’s Sables edged out the Uganda Rugby Cranes with a narrow 22-20 victory in a tense quarterfinal match of the Rugby Africa Cup 2024. The match, held at Uganda’s home ground, saw the Zimbabwean team take control early and ultimately advance to the semifinals.
From the start, Zimbabwe made their intentions clear with a strong opening. Edward Sigauke scored the first try of the game, and Ian Prior converted it successfully, giving Zimbabwe a 7-0 lead. The visitors continued their dominant performance throughout the first half, accumulating a 22-0 lead by halftime.
During the break, Uganda’s coach Fred Mudoola made strategic changes to improve the team’s performance. Joseph Aredo replaced Jones Kamiza, and Alex Aturinda came on for Sydney Gongodyo. These substitutions aimed to inject fresh energy into the game for Uganda.
The second half saw a significant improvement from the Ugandan side. Philip Wokorach contributed with a penalty, and later added a try, a conversion, and another penalty. Despite these efforts, Uganda was unable to close the gap sufficiently and fell short of overturning the deficit.
“It is disappointing that we only performed well in the second half. We wanted to deliver a better performance in front of our home fans,” said Coach Mudoola after the match.
Looking ahead, the Rugby Africa Cup semifinals will feature Namibia against Zimbabwe and Kenya facing Algeria. Uganda will play against Burkina Faso in a classification match, while Senegal will compete against Côte d’Ivoire. The final of the Rugby Africa Cup is scheduled for July 28, 2024.
