President's Select 15s ready to compete

Jun 07, 2019

I hope to see many young players on the President’s select side

Earlier in the week, I got information about a tour by the visiting USIU Rugby team the Martials and it was a good thing to honour the match.

They will play the President's Select 15s today at the Kings Park Arena in Bweyogerere-the home of the Stanbic Black Pirates.

I hope to see many young players on the President's select side since the USIU is largely a university side.

Below the Test level

In the previous years, we have had all sorts of teams playing the Rugby Cranes and we have given out caps in matches which I personally felt were a notch below the Test level.

National caps (awarded for Test Matches largely by playing another national team) have been a bit watered down.

The caps should be greatly protected and respected. I for one played in such games in 2002 when we hosted the Kenya Harlequins and the Goshawks in Zimbabwe.

Then there was probably a lot of excitement to play any team as a national team. Now the game is different.

We should as a community look towards getting more visiting teams but also jealously protect the Rugby Cranes' brand.

The President's Select offers us that opportunity and I am glad that there are people willing to protect the Rugby Cranes brand.

There is no single day we shall even see a strong combined clubs' team play the Kenya Simbas or Zimbabwe Sables.

Why then should we allow clubs to play against our Rugby Cranes? Well, in these things, names count a lot.

That game will kickoff at 4 pm and it will be preceded by the big Women's fixture between hosts Black Pearls vs Kyadondo's Thunderbirds.

The Thunderbirds top the table while the Black Pearls are in 3rd position behind the Entebbe Swans.

This is the last pool games for both sides before the competition goes into the semi-finals. The Women's game will kick off at 2 pm.

The hosts and organisers will not charge at the gate for both games for reasons which could do with the need to popularise the game in Bweyogerere and also since the President's Select versus the USIU Martials is not an official game but rather an improved training session for some potential rugby Cranes' players.

The Rugby Cranes will later this month play in Kisumu in this year's first leg of the annual Elgon Cup.

This year, the Rugby Cranes so far have reduced fixtures courtesy of a suspended Rugby Africa's Gold and Silver Cups.

The funny bit is that no one seems willing to point a finger at the ‘geniuses' behind this massive continental competition.

The buck stops at the outgoing Africa Rugby's EXCO's door!

Tight games

The Roke National Sevens Circuit takes a well-deserved break today and action will resume at the Kings Park as the Stanbic Black Pirates hosts the Henry Rujumba Memorial 7s.

The race for top honours will get tough and now headlined by the Pirates and Kobs.

Heathens and Buffaloes follow them for the honours.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});