Rugby Africa Women’s Cup Divison 1 is for the Lady Cranes to lose

JoriPress

Apr 19, 2025 - 12:05

Rugby Africa Women’s Cup Divison 1 is for the Lady Cranes to lose

On their quest to the top, the Lady Rugby Cranes 15s have been ruthless in San Pedro, Ivory Coast.

The squad that has enjoyed the services of the 7s and Under 20 players has been unplayable in the two games against Tunisia and the hosts Ivory Coast.

Tunisia came into this tournament as the highest-ranked team (31) but has since dropped to position 37, with the Ugandans climbing up to 34th from 39th.

The next challenge for the ladies in Black, Yellow, and Red is the Zimbabwe Women Sables, who were left disheartened on game day 2 by a last-minute try by Tunisia.

The wounded sables defeated the hosts, Ivory Coast, 46–08, on game day one and will look to pick up their form against the Lady Cranes if they are to earn promotion to the ultimate African Rugby competition, joining South Africa, Madagascar, and Kenya.

With a difference of 69 points, the Lady Cranes sit on top of the group and are set for another routine victory come Saturday, 19^th April, 2025.

However, it won’t come easily for them as some cracks have started to appear in the team that was solid against a strong Tunisian side. Seasoned prop Patricia Anek suffered an injury in the first half of the first game, with her rookie replacements, Nakalembe, Kokoi, Sijali and Asaba holding fort in the subsequent minutes and games, but her absence is being felt.

The kicking for goal is wanting, with only 2 of the 75 tries converted across the two games.

Individual play has also cropped up, but if it is working, why fix it?

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