The Uganda Rugby Cranes find themselves in a fix, which, if not resolved on Saturday, will see them relegated from the Rugby Africa Cup top division.
In their way is a stubborn Ivory Coast side that has equally underperformed in this year’s competition, scoring only 9 points from the tee, with no try in the two games they have played.
The Ivorians were in a similar position last year, surviving the knife after defeating Burkina Faso in the relegation playoff match, while the Ugandans finished 5th overall after a scrappy encounter with Senegal.
This year, the Cranes have looked a shell of themselves with two uninspired performances, but the Captain, Byron Oketayot, has remained hopeful.
“Right now, it is really painful that we are playing a relegation battle but we are going to win the game,” he promised.
In the dying minutes of the first half against Morocco, the Rugby Cranes got multiple penalties in the Moroccan five-meter zone, but on three occasions decided to call for a scrum. The captain defended this decision, saying, “The rules are basic, when you get more than 3 penalties on the scrum, you get a penalty try. When you make the decision to go for the scrum down, of course, there is something you are targeting,” Oketayot noted.
Going into the Ivory Coast game, decision-making will be a key determinant for whether the Rugby Cranes avoid relegation or succumb to the unforgiving knife. The captain is well aware of this, and when asked whether the Rugby Cranes shall opt to kick for poles when faced with a similar scenario, he said, “It is situational, every game you approach it differently. We have to watch how they play because you handle a game at a time,” Oketayot remarked.
The relegation playoff was moved from the earlier scheduled 10 a.m. slot to 2 p.m., a decision that got mixed reviews from the home fans.