Winning the bronze medal at the 2024 Willem Strauss International 7s tournament on September 8 was the most incredible of outcomes for Uganda Men.

Their participation nearly fell through but by tens of emails and phone calls, late nights, and sheer determination, a squad of seven players, including two debutants, travelled to South Africa without their team manager, physiotherapist, and head coach. No substitutes. They played six matches and their scorecard read three wins, one draw, and two losses.

Kawowo Sports spoke to the people involved in securing the invitation for this tournament and ensuring that the team made it, plus those who saw it all evolve on the ground.

This is the story of how it happened, from when the team knew they were travelling for the tournament until the final whistle was blown.

Uganda men clinch bronze medal at 2024 Willem Strauss International 7s tournament. South African player Damian Fuller (center) holding the trophy. Credit: From Uganda Rugby Union/TW

The Willem Strauss International 7s tournament is the brainchild of Blue Bulls Rugby Union president Willem Strauss. The inaugural edition was held on September 7-8 at Niestroom, Modimole, about two hours north of Pretoria in South Africa.

Uganda Rugby Union (URU) received invitation for its men’s and women’s 7s national teams to the tournament through the now one-year-old partnership with Blue Bulls. It arrived via email on August 5 with a month to spare.

“He (Willem Strauss) had already spoken to us and informed us that when the opportunity comes and when he gets the logistics together, he will send us an invite for both men and women. What came late was the actual invite. It arrived a month earlier on August fifth. We had to wait for the team management to select the teams… getting funds available and then their visa interviews,” revealed URU chief executive Isaac Lutwama Nsubuga.

That’s when the first stumbling block struck.

Ugandans require visas to travel to South Africa. The visa applications, which require documents including return flight itinerary and accommodation reservation, can be processed within seven days at the Visa Facilitation Services (VFS) centre along Lugogo Bypass in Kampala.

“While we had confirmed our travel, our host had not confirmed where we were going to reside. I think they sent their letter confirming accommodation on thirtieth of August. And a day after is when we sent in our applications for the visas to VFS. We had written to them to notify that the visa application might be delayed but we knew we were within the seven-day period and they assured us that the seven days would be enough.

“And for sure, much as we lobbied, the visas did come in time, on the day before the team was travelling. The issue we didn’t anticipate was that earlier last year when the team went to Stellenbosch for the Challenger.”

From late March to mid-April 2023, Uganda Men had camped at the Stellenbosch Academy of Sports in preparation for the 2023 World Rugby 7s Challenger on April 22-23 and April 29-30 in Stellenbosch, South Africa. The team of twelve players and three officials had overstayed longer than their visa allowed and so, on their way back home, had each been issued letters of undesirability which restricted them from returning to South Africa for a year.

URU had explored all avenues with National Council of Sports, Ministry of Education & Sports, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs to resolve the matter, and got assurance that it had been cleared. However, to their surprise over a year later, it was cited as the reason for denying visas to five players and three officials.

A mad scramble against time ensued to ensure that the team would honour its invitation to the tournament without fail. They had two days to work with.

So, a decision was made to send the seven players whose visas had been granted on the initially planned flight as they tried to fix the rest (eight) of the contingent’s issues.

Lutwama said that the coaches actually had confidence in the seven and had said, ‘let them play the way they are. If they can get backup players, well and good.’

“We put in place two buffers. We wrote to the Blue Bulls and asked them: (do) you have sevens players who you can lend to us to make a full team? We need five players and we will treat this as a festival team.”

“In the background, we continued to push for these (visa) declarations here, which came two days later.”

Two days later was the Friday before the tournament kicked off. The eight had already missed their flight and the next available flight to South Africa was the next morning.

This was too little too late and far too costly for them to make the trip in time and participate in the tournament. URU published a statement on their pages announcing to the public for the first time the challenge they had faced.

By that Saturday morning when the statement was published, the seven players had already touched down at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa and safely checked into their accommodation in Modimole where the tournament was set to be played.

On the matter of the backup players, unfortunately for Uganda, most of the players Blue Bulls could have offered had already been drafted into teams that were going to play in the same tournament. Three players were identified but only one confirmed and made the trip.

His name was Damian Fuller whose role as the only available substitute, according to head coach Tolbert Onyango, was to “come on as a reliever.”

Onyango and his entire technical bench were part of the eight who had not been granted visas, and thus had missed the trip. The only way for him to contact his team was using their accommodation’s WiFi before going to the pitch.

“We managed to link up with the boys eventually and on Saturday morning had a meeting online with them and the team manager. Just discussing how we are going to attack the game and basically wishing them the best of luck because thereafter, there was no communication.”

“Luckily,” Onyango said to Kawowo Sports, “Charles Onen and Winnie Atyang (the Uganda Women’s 7s head coach and team manager) were part of the contingent and they managed to basically chaperone them all the way to Nielstroom. There, they managed to get to their accommodation properly and wait for the other South African who was joining the team.”

Onen revealed that filling in for his fellow gaffer Onyango was a tough role he didn’t expect.

“When something happens, you need to adjust to it. It was a challenging one but we managed to go through it.

“We just had to align ourselves with the players and I think all went well. They understood that they had a challenge ahead of them.”

The challenge ahead of the players was having to play six matches spread over two days with no substitutes.

“Knowing that they didn’t have substitutes, it’s one of the key things we agreed on: that no one has a sub so we need to stick to the basics of the game. The most important thing that we had to agree on is to stay positive.”

Pius Ogena, the most senior player, captained the squad. He led the team comprising Karim Arinaitwe, Mubarak Wandera, William Lukwago, Mark Osuna, and the two debutants in Malcolm Okello and Robin Odrua.

Debutant Okello, like his teammates, was thrown in the deep end much to his surprise.

“We were promised to add more five players but when we reached there, unfortunately, only one made it to the site where we were playing. So going to the pitch, we had to be there for each other.”

The team of seven plus one literally squeezed water from a stone. They narrowly beat Africa 7s giants Zimbabwe in the first match but heavily lost the next two to home based clubs SA Blitz and UP Tuks.

“The tournament went well although we were burnt out. The games where we got tired, we conceded a lot but we managed. After winning the first game, we got morale,” Okello said.

Round-robin matches:

Uganda 19-17 Zimbabwe

South Africa Blitz 31-05 Uganda

Uganda 15-29 UP Tuks

Uganda 14-12 Rugby Academy

Uganda 14-14 SA All Stars

On Day Two, they got the job done against Rugby Academy and laboured to a draw with SA All Stars.

“It’s a testimony to our structures and how we’ve been playing through the years. It’s basically about just adding one or two things and ensuring that once we stick to them, we should be able to see off most games,” Onyango affirmed.

Uganda qualified to play for the bronze medal when the round-robin matches were concluded.

And for the second time in the tournament, Onen was surprised by events unfolding in front of him.

“It was very surprising to see the special group of boys that managed to win it, 40-07… against a team we drew with, 14-14. It was a very good finish of the tournament and I was impressed with their performance.”

Okello revealed that the team had decided to throw the kitchen sink at their opponents in the last match of the tournament.

“We went back and thought: we are seven, we travelled, we have suffered, things are hard… lets do this for each other. That was our final. We couldn’t move from Uganda to South Africa on a journey of eight hours, we had to give it our all.”

Bronze medal match: Uganda 40-07 SA All Stars

They were rewarded handsomely for their hunger and relentlessness. Uganda not only won an unbelievable bronze medal but also scored their highest points tally in a single match, all while conceding the least.

The four-day rollercoaster from nearly missing the tournament to standing on the podium had finally come to a stop. And what a way for it to happen.

The journey back home from South Africa, within time according to the visa rules this time round, was relaxed for all on that flight.

It was also jubilant since Onen and the Uganda Women’s 7s had won the gold medal in the Elite Women’s competition.

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