When captain Michael Wokorach made his national team debut thirteen years ago, three of his current teammates on the Uganda Men’s Sevens were barely ten. The shy Ivan Otema, the famous Desire Ayera, and Karim Arinaitwe were all born in the last year of the past millennium.
Born on 23 July 1999, Arinaitwe a.k.a “Hajj” is the youngest of them all. He is not just the youngest by age but also by the time spent in the national team fold.
Arinaitwe made his national team debut at the Safari Sevens in 2021, thus becoming part of the third generation of rugby players Wokorach has played with on that team.
For him, the past eleven months have felt like a few weeks. During that time, Arinaitwe has played at the Rugby Africa Men’s Sevens in Kampala, Uganda and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, United Kingdom, and was an unused reserve player at the World Rugby Challenger Series in Santiago, Chile.
“The feeling cannot be explained easily because everything is moving very fast but all I know is that I have not come to this pitch (on) one day and I’m not trying to learn something new. I give it a hundred and one per cent. I feel great that God is coming through me but I am also coming through for myself and everyone who has been part of this journey,” Arinaitwe said to Kawowo Sports.
And indeed, the relentless hard work and humility expressed in these words have earned him a dream trip to the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 in Cape Town, South Africa.
As any other athlete, Arinaitwe has set personal goals for the Rugby World Cup should the opportunity present itself. He however quickly makes it clear that he has made the trip to be a team player.
“I would love to score a try or two at the (Rugby) World Cup (Sevens) but most importantly I would love to make each of my brothers play at the best of his potential and see that the country gets to win games at the World Cup,” Arinaitwe revealed.
Arinaitwe refers to his teammates as his big brothers and feels at home being a part of them.
“They are quite the funny and well-caring friends or big brothers you can have. Because we meet for the most part of the week and we’ve built chemistry, it feels good to be part of them,” Arinaitwe added.
Arinaitwe, and the rest of the Uganda Men’s Sevens, will begin their Rugby World Cup campaign with a pre-Round of 16 match against Samoa on the opening day of the event.
Go Karim. We are proud if you. God bless your hard work🤗🤗