When all is said and done, the long awaited moment shall be upon us on Friday as both Uganda’s Sevens teams take center stage at the Dubai 7s, the first of 3 circuits of the 2024 HSBC Challenger 7s.

The Women shall be competing in the Challenger Series for the very first time while the Men’s who have been here so many times will be up against familiar rivals and they will be seeking to make it past the quarter finals for the very first time.

What are the Rugby Cranes’ Chances?

Given that its their first outing at such a competition, the Lady Cranes come into the circuit as underdogs but with a big win in their last tournament (Safari 7s), they will be having momentum and belief to make things happen.

The Lady Cranes open on Friday against Belgium, one of the most experienced and skillful teams at the tournament. Belgium came so close on the last two challengers series, most recently being runners up in 2023 behind South Africa.

This is the biggest hurdle that the Lady Cranes face in the group stages, and if they can pick up a victory, it might boost them to go all in.

The other fixture of the day shall be against Thailand, whom they are expected to beat and finally Papua New Guinea (PNG) on Saturday. PNG is a strong side, and during the Ocenia 7s, they only lost to highly ranked Fiji and Samoa then qualified for the Repechage tournament.

The Lady Cranes and PNG will be seeing each other as favorites for the top 2 slots and each team knows they have to beat the other to increase their chances of advancing.

If the Lady Cranes top the group, they will be against a second best third place team and the chances of advancing improve. However, if they finish second, there is a very big possibility of going up against Poland who are strong contenders.

To increase the Lady cranes chances of making at semis, they will need to start strong, defeat Belgium, get momentum and try to make sure they top the group. If they fail to top the group, the path could become harder, but nonetheless, the girls know what this tournament means and they have enough to get it done.

The men on the other hand are up against familiar foes (Kenya and Germany) in the pool stage and their pool might be the “pool of death”.

The Rugby Cranes open against Germany on Friday and the boys are expected to get the job done against a very stubborn side.

For almost six years (2017-2022), Germany defeated Uganda in all the 6 fixtures they played until, the Cranes broke the curse with 19-12 victory during the Bowl Finals at the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 in South Africa.

The last time these two sides met was recently (November 2023) at the Safari 7s, were the Cranes destroyed the Germans, 31:7 in the third place playoff fixture.

Germany has a higher pedigree in the Challenger Series compared to Uganda, having won all the 3 fixtures, when they have met. The Cranes will be under immense pressure to get their first victory against Germany in the Challenger series and this victory will set them on the right path to advance out of the pool phase.

Their next opponents will be up against neighbors and archrival Kenya. Uganda and Kenya Rugby rivalry is like an unending stories, to which another chapter shall be added.

Kenya undoubtedly has more experience playing at the big stages and the last time these two sides met (Safari 7s), the Shuuja came away with the victory.

The Rugby Cranes have been knocking on the big boy’s door for a while, whereas the Kenyans have been with the big boys for a while.

In order for Uganda to convince the world that they have earned the right to be in 2025 HSBC conversations, they need to defeat Kenya, and make it known that they are ready.

If Uganda finishes top of pool C, they take on the 2nd team in Pool A. Pool A is stacked with very strong teams including 2022 finalists, Uruguay and Georgia.

If Uganda finishes second, they take on the top team in Pool B and 2023 Challenger Series Champions Tonga, are tipped to be the favorites. Hong Kong, who are serial series core team is also expected to put up a fight for that top spot in the group.

The competition in the Men’s series is immense and for the Rugby Cranes to make a name for themselves, they ought to atleast make it to the semifinals. If they can defeat both Kenya and Germany, they might as well be in the conversation for winning the Dubai 7s.