It was an action packed rugby tournament as the Guinness-sponsored Rugby Cranes Sevens team retained the African trophy, with Adrian Kasito scoring a marvelous try in the dying minutes of the game to ensure the Ugandans remained champions.
Already having qualified for the 2018 Rugby World Cup in San Francisco, US, the Rugby Cranes were to face Zimbabwe in the finals. The Ugandans needed their classical passing game to beat their opponents on 10-7 and no sooner had Kasito scored his try, than the game ended leaving the Zimbabwe players in tears.
This means that the Rugby Cranes Sevens team also qualifies to play in the HSBC World Sevens series tournaments in Dubai, Cape Town and Hong Kong.
Speaking to media, Uganda Breweries Limited Head of Beers, Estella Muzito said: “We’re ecstatic about the latest achievement by our national team. They showed great zeal and spirit as they fought to retain their trophy. As Guinness, our support for the national team and the sport will continue to grow. The team will be carrying our flag to the Rugby World Cup next year and we will be right there with them all the way. Once again, I would like to congratulate the Uganda Rugby 7s Cranes, the Uganda Rugby Union, and all supporters of Uganda Rugby for a job well done.”
The Rugby Africa Mens Sevens tournament is an annual tournament organized by the African governing body, Rugby Africa that draws together the top playing nations in Africa.
The teams that took part in this year’s tournament are Uganda, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Zambia, Morocco, Tunisia, Botswana and Ghana.
Guinness came into partnership with the Uganda Rugby Union and took on the sponsorship of the national team by contributing Shs200 million to the development of the team and sport. Of the contribution, Shs100 million was made in cash.
The renewed partnership is running for the next three years.
