Desire Ayera has made a spirited recovery from a shoulder injury to earn a spot on Uganda Men’s squad for the HSBC World Rugby 7s Challenger 2024 opener in Dubai.
He sustained the injury during the Stone City 7s in July and was out of contention for the Africa 7s and Safari 7s at the tail end of 2023.
Ayera is one of head coach Tolbert Onyango’s blue-eyed-boys whom the tactician missed for those tournaments. The others are Timothy Kisiga and captain Ian Munyani whose work commitments kept them out of the travelling squads last year.
All three players are now available and have been named on the squad that will travel to Dubai for the 7s Challenger 2024 opening round.
Uganda Men’s Squad for 7s Challenger Dubai:
- Pius Ogena
- Desire Ayera
- Isaac Massanganzira
- Davis Shimwa
- Alex Aturinda
- Adrian Kasito
- Aaron Ofoywroth
- William Nkore
- Timothy Kisiga
- Denis Etwau
- Roy Kizito
- Ian Munyani (captain)
Technical Bench:
- Head Coach: Tolbert Onyango
- Physiotherapist: Samuel Rwakijuma
- Team Manager: Michael Wandera
Rising sensation Roy Kizito has maintained his place on the squad as the go-to finisher. He is joined by speedster Denis Etwau.
The two will fill in for utility back Nobert Okeny who got injured during training last year.
Head coach Tolbert Onyango said to the press during the squad announcement at Kings Park on Friday morning that there was a risk of worsening Okeny’s “little injury” at the start of a busy campaign and thus had to miss out.
Uganda has participated in all editions of the 7s Challenger since the tournament’s inception in 2020.
