Saturday 20th September: I did not have breakfast and I felt sick. I strapped my ankles as well as charlotte and prossy’s and took my time doing it to calm my nerves. Connie, our team doc, strapped my right shoulder then offered to give me a jab to keep the pain at bay. I warned her to keep needles away from me if she wanted me in the right frame of mind to play.
We got to the tournament venue (kyadondo rugby club) at midday and there was a nice big crowd. Ugandans had shown up in big numbers to support us. We were either going to make history as uganda’s first ever world cup bound team or we would end up on the huge pile of Ugandan sporting failures. We were under huge pressure to succeed and we all felt it. More so the senior players (charlotte, christine, winnie and i) who had the rookies looking up to us.
Our union had got us brand new kit and it looked good – it looked better than the men’s kit – and we stood tall. Our first game was against Zimbabwe and they did not present to us much of a challenge. I was playing on the wing but winnie (who was playing centre) and I kept switching positions in attack to spice up our attacking moves. We beat Zimbabwe 30 - 00. the Botswana game was just as easy and we came off the pitch with a 48 – 00 win.
The much anticipated clash was our game against Tunisia and it was the last game of the day. We kept the Tunisians in their 22 so the first half of the game but squandered so many try scoring opportunities. Charlotte got concussed after making a big tackle so I had to switch from the wing to flyhalf while winnie (with ball in picture) went to the wing and kayonjo came in at centre. We went into half time tied at 0 – 0. early on in the second half I scored out wide but twisted my ankle slightly in the process. Our number one kicker (charlotte) was off and I could not kick at that moment so Christine attempted the conversion and missed. We were 5 – 0 up. a break in concentration had the tunisian flying winger scoring a try between the posts. The conversion was missed and the score was 5 -5. in the last 2 minutes, the Tunisian captain was sent off for a professional foul and although we put the Tunisians under pressure we knocked on in their 5 and the Tunisians scored off the scrum after collecting a deep kick over our heads. This time round the conversion was good and the Tunisians won the game 12 – 05. we were devastated and there was not a dry eye in the team. Mutaks and soggy had a hard task trying to lift our spirits. The top 4 teams were reseeded after day 1, south Africa has scored more tries than Tunisia so were number 1. we had scored more tries than Kenya so were seed 3. south Africa were to meet Kenya again (seed 1 versus seed 4) while we also met Tunisia again (seed 2 versus seed 3) in the semifinals. We went to sleep after planning how to exact revenge on the Tunisians.
We got to the tournament venue (kyadondo rugby club) at midday and there was a nice big crowd. Ugandans had shown up in big numbers to support us. We were either going to make history as uganda’s first ever world cup bound team or we would end up on the huge pile of Ugandan sporting failures. We were under huge pressure to succeed and we all felt it. More so the senior players (charlotte, christine, winnie and i) who had the rookies looking up to us.
Our union had got us brand new kit and it looked good – it looked better than the men’s kit – and we stood tall. Our first game was against Zimbabwe and they did not present to us much of a challenge. I was playing on the wing but winnie (who was playing centre) and I kept switching positions in attack to spice up our attacking moves. We beat Zimbabwe 30 - 00. the Botswana game was just as easy and we came off the pitch with a 48 – 00 win.
The much anticipated clash was our game against Tunisia and it was the last game of the day. We kept the Tunisians in their 22 so the first half of the game but squandered so many try scoring opportunities. Charlotte got concussed after making a big tackle so I had to switch from the wing to flyhalf while winnie (with ball in picture) went to the wing and kayonjo came in at centre. We went into half time tied at 0 – 0. early on in the second half I scored out wide but twisted my ankle slightly in the process. Our number one kicker (charlotte) was off and I could not kick at that moment so Christine attempted the conversion and missed. We were 5 – 0 up. a break in concentration had the tunisian flying winger scoring a try between the posts. The conversion was missed and the score was 5 -5. in the last 2 minutes, the Tunisian captain was sent off for a professional foul and although we put the Tunisians under pressure we knocked on in their 5 and the Tunisians scored off the scrum after collecting a deep kick over our heads. This time round the conversion was good and the Tunisians won the game 12 – 05. we were devastated and there was not a dry eye in the team. Mutaks and soggy had a hard task trying to lift our spirits. The top 4 teams were reseeded after day 1, south Africa has scored more tries than Tunisia so were number 1. we had scored more tries than Kenya so were seed 3. south Africa were to meet Kenya again (seed 1 versus seed 4) while we also met Tunisia again (seed 2 versus seed 3) in the semifinals. We went to sleep after planning how to exact revenge on the Tunisians.
1 comment:
Job well done. Congs Lady Cranes. It was worthwhile. I miss the action and I Pray I will be apart of it some day.
DUBAI, LOOK OUT. HERE WE COME!!!
ALUTA CONTINUA
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