If one is to put a finger on what is exactly wrong with this Rugby Cranes 7s side, it would be defence.
Across the three games they’ve played on Day 2 of the Safari 7s, they have conceded a total of 99 points, while only managing 40 of their own.
The Cranes always looked vulnerable whenever they were on the defence, criminally missing costly tackles that led to tries for the opposition. To put this in context, the Cranes missed a total of 5 tackles that led to direct tries in the game against KCB Rugby, which they lost 40-14 to the bankers.
In all their losses, one thing was clear: that the players need more time plus strength and conditioning.
Additionally, this is a side with five debutants and three tournament first-time returnees, who only had about 3 weeks of preparation.
That said, these are the best players that the recently concluded National 7s Series had to offer for selection. Calling them “emerging” won’t change the fact that they were good enough to dominate the local series, but they were rushed into the deep end, and they bit a little more than they could chew on this particular outing.
Losses to Nyati, KCB Rugby and Shogun mean the Cranes finish bottom of their pool and do not advance to the quarterfinals.
The Ugandan side will play Apache in the Challenge Trophy semifinals at 11:18 a.m.