For the better part of the 2023-24 international season, Uganda Men’s 7s head coach Tolbert Onyango has worked with an expanded squad of both veterans and rookies.
It has yielded both positive – bronze at Safari 7s and the African Games – results and not-positive results – failed SVNS World Series and Olympic qualification campaigns.
The team’s overall performance was underwhelming given the expectations and investment from all stakeholders.
Now, as he embarks on a fresh 2024-25 season, Onyango has returned to default setting with his travelling squad.
The twelve going to represent Uganda at the 2024 Rugby Africa Men’s 7s in Mauritius this weekend are men he has worked with for not less than half a decade.
Apart from Karim Arinaitwe, all the players on the squad have played for Uganda before the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Uganda’s travelling squad for the 2024 Rugby Africa Men’s 7s in Mauritius:
- 1 Pius Ogena, 2 Isaac Massanganzira, 3 Philip Wokorach, 4 Alex Aturinda, 5 Desire Ayera, 6 Aaron Ofoyrwoth, 7 Adrian Kasito, 8 Karim Arinaitwe, 9 Nobert Okeny, 10 Timothy Kisiga, 11 Dennis Etwau, 12 Ian Munyani (captain).
The entire squad has experience on the continent and have all featured at the past two editions of the Africa 7s in Harare 2023 and Kampala 2022.
see the full schedule
Uganda’s campaign at the Labourdonnais Sports Club in Mapou, Mauritius will commence on Saturday morning in Pool B.
But are we moving forward really, with the same squad for 5years