Invincible Uganda Rugby Sevens Win Fourth African Title

Uganda has won the 2024 Africa Men’s Sevens in Mauritius. This brings the number of Africa 7s titles the Rugby Cranes have to four.

The Cranes stunned pre-tournament favorites South Africa 20:17 in the final at the Labourdonnais Sports Club in Mapou, Mauritius, on Sunday evening.

However, the Cranes had already clinched the African title before running out for the final. This is because this year’s tournament was a two-legged affair with the first round last weekend.

In the first round, Uganda beat Madagascar 31:12 in the final to proceed to the second round as top seed. Over the two rounds, coach Tolbert Onyango’s charges played 12 matches and won all.

Moving into match week two, all the Rugby Cranes needed to regain their trophy from Kenya was a finals appearance. Uganda easily moved through the group without hiccups. Uganda’s group comprised Tunisia, Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso.

Despite the absence of Phillip Wokorach, who returned to France to seal a move to new club Orleans, they didn’t need to engage gear two till the final. Timothy Mugisha joined the camp during the week to replace Wokorach.

After topping the pool, the Cranes headed to the quarterfinal where Zambia was no match. Uganda scored 32 unanswered points against Zambia to set up a rematch of last year’s third-place playoff in the semi-finals.

In the semi-finals, Zimbabwe caused Uganda nerves as the teams went to halftime tied 7 all. However, Uganda upped the tempo in the second half, ending 24:7.

With Zimbabwe out of the way, South Africa was the next obstacle between the Uganda Sevens and African glory. A closely contested first half ended 15:05 with the Cranes punishing the World Series team on the breakdowns.

However, South Africa would score two quick unanswered tries in the second half to set up a nail-biting last two minutes. For a moment, South Africa led 17:15. Aaron Ofoyrwoth showed his exceptional game management as Uganda Sevens fancied their scrum against South Africa’s when the Cranes won penalties during the “malaria” time. Ofoyrwoth would then cunningly score from the base of the scrum to end the game 20:17.

Victory for Uganda means a return to the World Challenger Series 2025, and they look to attain World Series status. Another team that booked their place in the Challenger Series is Madagascar.