Women ruggers hold trials for Elgon Cup

The KRFU have invited Lady Cranes to curtain rasie the men's return match of the Elgon Cup. The much anticipated clash between the traditional rivals is slated for 11th August at the RFUEA grounds in Nairobi.

The trials were held at Kampala Rugby Club and pitted Thunderbirds versus a combined force of Rangers and Black Panthers. The Rangers-Black Panthers went into the game as clear underdogs with 50 - 00 plus scores being predicted. The Rangers-Black Panthers surprised the Thunderbirds and spectors alike with their determined defence.

The Thunderbirds dominated in the lineouts and scrumdowns however the smaller Rangers-Black Panthers pack held their own in the rucks and mauls. The Rangers-Black Panthers back line was sharper than the Thunderbird backs with flying winger Patience Onziema cauing havoc along the touchline. The Rangers-Black Panthers were unfortunate not to have adequate possession to create enough try scoring opportunities as the Thunderbirds pinned them in their own half most of the game.

The Rangers-Black Panthers worked as a unit in defence and were quick to the breakdown and made every tackle count. The scores remained at 08-00 up until the last 20 minutes of the game when the Rangers-Black Panthers could not withstand the big hits anymore and let in 4 tries in quick succession.

Although the final score was 30 - 00 (5tries, 1conversion, 1penalty) to the Thunderbirds their overall game lacked creativity and they had to rely on their superior size and playing experience to subdue the plucky Rangers-Black Panthers.

Thunderbirds giants Winnie Atyang and Christine Kizito - both playing at centre - stood out for Thunderbirds with their big hits and runs while dimunitive backs, Charlotte Mudoola at fly half (Rangers), Hadija Namuyanja at centre(Rangers), Patience Onziema (Rangers) and Helen Buteme at full back(Black Panthers) as well as flanker Loy Mbabazi (Black Panthers) and lock Hellen Gizamba (Black Panthers) contained the Thunderbirds centres with crunching tackles and snuffed out other potential threats to their try line to keep the score line decent . The game was closely watched by Uganda's technical director David Dobela who will be involved in selecting and coaching the Lady Cranes XV's squad.