The Lady Rugby Cranes XVs players received a boost on Thursday when they were informed that they would be receiving professional contracts from the Uganda Rugby Union for a period of three months.
The contracts that run from April through May to June come after the Lady Cranes impressed at the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup – Division One in San Pedro, Ivory Coast, winning the tournament and subsequently earning promotion to the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup main stage.
This announcement was made by the URU Vice President – Technical, Eric Butime, during a special team bonding evening that was organized by the Union to congratulate and celebrate with the triumphant ladies.
Previously, the rugby 15s ladies have been operating on an allowance basis for training, games played and tournaments, unlike their 7s counterparts who were fully contracted by the Union.
This move confirms that the management has now shifted focus to the 15s, a code that was largely neglected for the better part of the last 2 years.
All the 28 players who made the team for the tournament shall be contracted, with additional contracts being awarded as and when need arises.
With the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup edging closer this June in Madagascar, tying down your top talents ahead of time provides stability and peace of mind for the players during the preparations for the tournament and the competition itself. They will be going up against African giants like South Africa, Kenya and Madagascar.
The Lady Cranes now replace Cameroon, which has been relegated from the top tier, and shall have to maintain that status if they want to feature in the WXV competitions next year.
Being a World Cup year, the WXV won’t be held, therefore making maintaining top-tier status the priority for Coach Charles Onen and his newly contracted players.