Uganda’s Lady Cranes and Kenya’s Lionesses have won all their games to set up a climactic finish to the women’s Safari 7s category.
The Lady Cranes 7s were first up on Day 3 of the Safari 7s, opening the grand stage against Tunisia Women. A switch in the starting flyhalf saw Bushira Namutebi coming in and delivering a perfectly measured kickoff that found touch on and off in the Tunisia 22-meter area.
Uganda then stole the resulting lineout, and Gertrude Kateesa managed to find Lydia Namabiro, who opened Uganda’s account in that game. On the restart, Namutebi was not able to send the ball to the requisite 10 meters, thus handing uncontested possession to the Tunisians.
When Uganda reclaimed possession, they seemed to run out of ideas as the Tunisians were putting on a good defensive press. That press paid off for Tunisia, who utilised their penalty to get their first 5-pointer of the game.
Uganda finally beat the Tunisia press through Mastula Namboozo’s kick in behind the line of defence. Namboozo was then joined by Grace Auma on the chase, but it was the latter who profited from the farmer’s industriousness.
The Ugandans continued their breakdown dominance, this time turning over the ball in Tunisia’s half. Namabiro was once again there to go over the line for Uganda before the end of the first half. Namabiro then attempted to start from where she stopped in the second half, but Tunisia’s defence responded in equal measure.
Namabiro lost the ball forward, but the Ugandans continued with the breakdown work, getting possession back. Kateesa then reacted fastest, scratching and diving over for the Lady Cranes to extend their lead. Namboozo’s solo effort gave Uganda a 27-05 advantage, but soon conceded a well-worked try from Tunisia.
With the last restart of the game, substitute Sarah Kirabo received the ball and ran over 60 meters while beating 3 defenders on her way to Uganda’s last try of the game. The 32-10 victory put Uganda and Kenya in a position where the winner takes all in the women’s category of the Safari 7s.