Rugby Africa Cup: Uganda rallies to beat Burkina Faso

Main Cup semi-final 
Zimbabwe 32 Namibia 10
Kenya 12 Algeria 20
Fifth-place semi-final playoff 
Uganda 25 Burkina Faso 15
Senegal 25 Cote D'Ivoire 8

Uganda survived a first-half scare from Burkina Faso to win the fifth-place semi-final at Namboole Stadium.

Midweek matches are a rare treat and Uganda was sent out at midday for a stun test that would see them thrown in the relegation zone or advance to the fifth-place playoff.

Uganda's skipper Ivan Magomu was instrumental in unlocking The Stallions' defence. Photo by Johnson Were

Burkina Faso was at their physical best and used that early match freshness to score an early try against Uganda who struggled to defend.

Borrowing a leaf from their weekend games, Philip Wokorach took charge of kicking duties and quickly reduced the deficit with his early penalty.

Faraji Odugo executes during a lineout. Photo by Johnson Were

Captain Ivan Magomu took over and was able to dictate a good tempo that made it possible for Uganda to fashion their first try through Shakim Ssembusi and Wokorach made the conversion and added a try of his own taking the score to 15-5.

Burkina Faso were not to be denied as they added another try at the break making it 15-10.

Uganda came back for the second half and added more pieces to the puzzle adding more gloss to the scoreline.

Shakim Ssembusi scores a try for Uganda. Photo by Johnson Were

They got a penalty try but Burkina Faso scored another and the lead was taken to 22-15. Wokorach scored a penalty which took the lead to 10 and gave Uganda some breathing room.

Burkina Faso winger Antoine Yameogo was disappointed with the result and has called his teammates to do better in the seventh-place playoff.

"We worked very hard as a group but in the end there was a lot of physicality. Our team missed out on a few basics and we now fix that in the next games said," said Yameogo.

Phillip Wokorach (with ball) was flawless with his boot. Photo by Johnson Were

For Uganda, it was a relief to get their first victory and prepare for Sunday.

"For this game, we had to get ourselves back into the tournament. We had to secure this win because it meant a lot to us and we had to calm our nerves we knew what had happened in the first game so we had to rescue ourselves," Emong explained.

In the main Cup Kenya fell prey to the boot of Algerian Thomas Lacroix. He punished the Simbas in windy conditions as he found the posts every time the ball was within kicking distance.

Zimbabwe overcame 22 years without victory as they knocked defending champions Namibia from the Africa Cup to advance to the final where they will take on Algeria.