Uganda Cranes 15s squad that will feature in the July Internationals has been announced.
Uganda will face Kenya Simbas three times in July with the Rugby Africa Cup qualifiers scheduled for 1-10 July 2022 and the Elgon Cup which will take place after the competition.
The first leg is scheduled for 23 July in Uganda while the second leg will be on 30 July.
France-based Philip Wokorach has been been included in the squad.
Kenya Cup winners Asuman Mugerwa and Charles Uhuru, Scott Olouch, Eliphaz Emong, Pius Ogena Ivan Kirabo and Solomon Okia have been included in the squad.
The squad will be captained by playmaker Ivan Magomu.
The Rugby Africa Cup 2022, which will also serve as the final round of the Rugby World Cup 2023 qualifying for African countries, will be held in France from July 1 to 10, 2022.
The competition will be hosted at Aix-en-Stade Provence’s Maurice-David and Marseille’s Stade Pierre-Delort, which hosted the RWC 2019 Final Qualification Tournament.
The Rugby Africa Cup pool stage was contested in July 2021, following the Rugby Africa Cup Repechage 2021, and determined the eight teams that will compete in the quarter-finals in France.
Namibia, who are bidding to reach a seventh successive Rugby World Cup, Senegal, Uganda and Zimbabwe qualified for the quarter-finals as pool winners. They were joined in the last eight by pool runners-up Burkina Faso, Algeria, Kenya Simbas and Ivory Coast.
Burkina Faso, ranked 91st in the World Rugby Men’s Rankings will face Namibia on Friday 1 July 2022 in the first quarterfinal match set for Stade Pierre-Delort in Marseille.
Senegal will face Algeria in the second quarterfinal at the same venue on 1 July.
Kenya Simbas will take on the Uganda Cranes on Saturday 2 July at Stade Maurice-David in Aix-en-Provence. Zimbabwe Sables will also face Ivory Coast on 2 July at the same venue.
The victor of the eight-team knockout competition will represent Africa in the RWC 2023 in France 14 months later. New Zealand, hosts France, Italy, and Uruguay are all in Pool A for the Africa 1 qualifier.
Whoever finishes as runners-up following the much-anticipated Rugby Africa Cup 2022 final on 10 July will still have a chance of qualifying for RWC 2023 through the Final Qualification Tournament.
Uganda Cranes: Akera Komaketch, Joseph Aredo, Arthur Mpande, Asuman Mugerwa, Aziku Robert, Tawfik Bagalana, Chissano Joachim, Emmanuel Ecodu, Emong Eliphaz, Paul Epilo, Thomas Gwokto, Juuko Jude, Kanyanya Ronald, Kato Reynolds, Khani Aziziz, Colin Kimbowa, Ivan Kirabo, Saul Kivumbi, Ivan Magomu (Captain), Manano Alhaji, James Mugisha, Jacob Ochen, Uhuru Charles, Timothy Odongo, Faragi Odugo, Pius Ogena, Okia Solomon, George Scott Olwuoch, Michael Otto, Joseph Oyet, Alema Ruhweza, Lawrence Ssebuliba, Santos Ssenteza, Wanyama Conrad, Philip Wokorach
Tournaments in July:
Elgon Cup First Leg (Uganda)
23rd July 2022
Second leg (Kenya)
30th July 2022
Rugby Africa Cup (France)
1st-10th July 2022
