Uganda: Country Beats Madagascar
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New Vision (Kampala)
2 August 2008
Posted to the web 4 August 2008
Kampala
IT turned out to be a lot closer than everyone had thought - and at times looked like the martial contests it had been likened to - but at the end the home team prevailed.
In a game where four players were shown the yellow card, the Rugby Cranes rallied at the end to beat the Madagascar Makis 32-22 in a 2011 Rugby World Cup qualifier at Kampala Rugby Club yesterafternoon.
"I knew it would be a tough game, because they've had almost a year to prepare for it," coach Yayiro Kasasa said after the game. "Our defence was not very good, especially in the first half and they took advantage of it.
They played quite well and it was not till the last ten minutes of the game that we took control."
Anthony Kinene opened the scores for Uganda with a penalty but the Makis quickly replied with one of their own from the reliable boot of Jose Rakoto. They took advantage of a poorly-positioned Ugandan defence and made a try to take the lead.
Felix Lubega broke through for a try converted by Kinene and the Cranes were back on top. But Rakoto kicked another penalty to end the half 11-10.
Lubega was on the mark again with another try, but suffered an injury when a Maki player subsequently stepped on his head. Kinene and Rakoto exchanged penalties before Allan Musoke run through the entire Madagascan defence for the try of the game, but a careless Kinene missed the conversion.
The Makis regrouped and after a penalty and a try came within 22-25. But the Cranes finally got their maul working and Steven Obwete made the last try of the game, converted by Edmond Tumusiime, thus bringing an otherwise tense game to an end.
"I think the boys were a bit overconfident, they thought we would just run over the opponents," Kasasa said. "In a way this is a wake-up call, we have to be more careful in the future."
Complacency, overconfidence and lack of actual game time meant the Cranes were not at their best. They were often hesitant, especially in defence and the very quick Madagascans were there to punish any mistake.
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Their increased pack size also meant the Cranes did not dominate the area as they previously did. The Rugby Cranes have now topped their group and await the results of the other group matches to know which country they will play. but Kasasa feels it will most likely either Namibia or Morocco. The nest round will be played in 2009..
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Copyright © 2008 New Vision. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
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