Uganda stun Kenya to storm Africa Sevens Cup final

Uganda Cranes stunned defending champions Kenya 17-12 on Saturday to storm the Africa Rugby Cup Sevens final at the Safaricom Stadium, Kasarani.

Uganda will now meet Namibia in the final at 5.26pm on Saturday after the Southern Africa side rallied from behind to stop Madagascar 10-7 in the other tight semi-final.

It was a good weekend for Uganda after their cricket team also beat Kenya by three wickets on Friday in the ongoing Quadrangular Tournament at the Nairobi Gymkhana.

The Uganda cricket and rugby teams are being handled by former Kenyan internationals Steve Tikolo and Tolbert Onyango respectively.

Philip Wokorach tore through Kenya’s porous defence at the middle to draw first blood for Uganda before Ramadhan Govle scored their second try.

Wokorach converted one to lead 12-0 as Kenya’s skipper Michael Wanjala left the pitch after getting injured. That saw Kenya struggle at the rucks with no sweeper in place.

Cranes skipper Eric Kasiita would wade through Kenya’s defence again to score as the Ugandans led 17-0 at the break. The sin-binning of Uganda player on resumption marked Kenya’s resurgence as Alex Olaba and Aluda beda crossed the line each to bring Kenya back into the game 17-12.

However, The Ugandans held on to claim the infamous win, which they marked with rigorous celebrations at the end.

The Ugandans had on the first day stunned last year’s losing finalists Zimbabwe 19-14 in the pool stage.

Kenya coach Paul Murunga said the results against Uganda were expected after having only trained for two days. Murunga also rued the absence of Wanjala who got injured two minutes into the match.

“It’s a lesson for us and the Union that we don’t take things for granted and that it’s not just a matter of selection but preparations too,” said Murunga, who commended his charges for their efforts. “Uganda scored out of our own mistakes.”

Onyango and Namibian coach Louw Booysen predicted a highly physical final. “We just believed in our defensive system and the intensity we kept in the first half worked magic for us,” said Onyango.

"The results are beyond our expectations and we expect a tough, physical and high-paced match," said Booysen. "We will need to work hard on our defence structures."