Debutant Isaac Rujjumba was on Wednesday, July 7 expelled from the Uganda Rugby Cranes training camp after breaking the team’s bio-bubble set up to protect the team from COVID-19.
On the morning of that day, Rujjumba missed the team bus for a 10 a.m. training session at Kyadondo Rugby Club. He is said to have used private means – a motorbike – which he rode from the team hotel in Bweyogerere to Kyadondo.
Two days after the decision was taken, Uganda Rugby Union is yet to publish an official statement on the incident.
The Local Organising Committee led by Philip Asiimwe Kiboijana, at a press event to launch the tournament, stressed that it will be held within the strict observance of SOPs and regulations set by Rugby Afrique and the Ugandan government. These include regular testing of players and officials, a strict bio-bubble for all participating teams, and playing the games behind closed doors.
It is therein that Rujjumba, a loose-forward, found himself unfortunately on the wrong side of the rules and had to be dismissed with immediate effect from the Uganda Rugby Cranes camp. This, thus, leaves the team with 27 players available for national duty.
Rujjumba was set to make his first senior national team appearance, having represented the country at the U19 level in 2014 and at the FISU World University Championships-Rugby in 2019 held in Windhoek, Namibia.
- Rugby Africa Cup 2021 Pool C – Kampala, Uganda
- Saturday, July 10: Uganda vs Ghana
- Sunday, July 18: Uganda vs Algeria