Uganda’s Lady Rugby Cranes Sevens will head into the 2025 Africa Women’s Sevens with confidence after clinching silver at the Safari Sevens over the weekend in Nairobi.
Uganda fielded three teams at the annual tournament, the men’s and women’s national sides and national sevens champions Walukuba Barbarians as an invitational team, but it was the Lady Cranes who flew the flag highest.
The Lady Cranes began strongly, edging Belgium 12-10 and sweeping Tunisia 34-12 in their pool matches before suffering a 17-5 defeat to hosts Kenya Lionesses in their final group game.
They roared back in the knockout stages, thrashing Kenya’s emerging side, the Cubs 34-0 in the quarterfinals before edging out 2024 winners Costa Blanca Barbarians 17-12 in the semifinals. That set up a rematch with the Lionesses in the final.
National Sevens top try scorer Comfort Anganyika and Lydia Namabiro both crossed the line in the final, but Uganda’s missed conversions proved costly as they fell 14-10 to a more clinical Kenyan side.
Uganda will now return to Kampala to begin immediate preparations for the Africa Women’s Sevens, scheduled for next month at the same venue in Nairobi.
Head coach Charles Onen praised his players’ resilience despite the narrow loss.
‘We didn’t really bring our A-game in the final because we lost it towards the end, but I congratulate the girls for putting up a spirited fight. A 14-10 result against the Lionesses is not bad,’ Onen said after the final.
‘Those are the results, and we can’t change anything, but we shall build from there as we gear up for the next tournament next month.’
Meanwhile, the men’s side, the Rugby Cranes Sevens, endured a difficult campaign, losing all their group matches to Kenyan sides Nyati (24-14), KCB (40-14), and Shujaa’s Shogun (35-14) before beating Apache and Reunion to settle for the Challenger Trophy.
Invitational side Walukuba Barbarians also faced a tough outing, falling 55-0 to Kenya’s A side Shujaa, 41-26 to UK Select, and 38-21 to French Renegades before suffering another heavy 50-0 defeat to Reunion in the Challenger semifinal.
The tournament was overshadowed by tragedy as Belgium Women’s head coach Warren Abrahams collapsed and passed away on Friday while on the touchline.
Hosts Kenya dominated the event, winning both the men’s and women’s titles as they prepare for the upcoming World Sevens Tier 2 Series.
2025 Safari Sevens – Lady Cranes 7s results
Preliminary rounds
Uganda 12-10 Belgium
Uganda 34-12 Tunisia
Kenya Lionesses 17-5 Uganda
Quarterfinal: Uganda 34-0 Kenya Cubs
Semifinal: Uganda 17-12 Costa Blanca Barbarians
Final: Kenya Lionesses 14-10 Uganda