Uganda Lady Cranes coach outlines comeback plan after heavy defeat to Kenya

Uganda Lady Cranes head coach Muhammad Athiyo has outlined how his side intends to bounce back after suffering a deflating 43-10 defeat to Kenya Lionesses in their Rugby Africa Women’s Cup opener.

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Uganda now face an even tougher challenge in their second fixture against defending champions South Africa on Wednesday, 27 May, as they seek to revive their campaign and avoid a second successive defeat.

The Lady Cranes struggled to contain a dominant Kenya side on Saturday at the RFUEA Grounds, particularly in the first half, where defensive lapses proved costly. Uganda’s only points came through a try from Kirabo Cabrine, while Namutebi Bashira added a conversion and a penalty.

Kenya Lionesses whitewash Uganda in Rugby Africa Women’s Cup opener

Reflecting on the loss, Athiyo pointed to costly mistakes that disrupted his side’s plans and allowed Kenya to take control of the contest.

“It was a highly competitive match, but unfortunately, in the first half, we had some lapses as a team. We conceded three easy tries and missed crucial tackles.

From a technical bench perspective, that really hurt us, but moving forward, we have to improve and do better,” he said.

The tactician revealed that the halftime team talk focused on reminding the players about the objectives that brought them to the tournament and encouraging them to reset mentally for the second half.

“At halftime, the main message was to remind the players what brought us here and what we came to achieve. We addressed the mistakes from the first half, encouraged them to wipe the slate clean and challenge for the game, but unfortunately, things did not go according to plan,” he added.

Despite the disappointing result, Athiyo remains optimistic and insists Uganda will approach the remaining fixtures with belief and determination.

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“All the matches are tough because not every team qualifies for the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup. To be here, you must be a formidable force in women’s rugby.

We definitely will not take South Africa and Madagascar for granted. We will go out guns blazing, put our best foot forward, and hope for the best,” he offered.

Uganda earned their place in the top division after an impressive Rugby Africa Women’s Division One campaign last year. The Lady Cranes dominated the round-robin competition, thrashing Zimbabwe 63-7 and recording convincing victories over Tunisia and hosts Côte d’Ivoire to secure promotion while remaining unbeaten.

Athiyo recently took charge of the Lady Cranes after concluding a successful nine-year stint with Heathens Rugby Club. Between 2016 and 2025, he guided the club to five league titles, three Uganda Cups and a National 7s Series crown, while also overseeing unbeaten league campaigns and a treble-winning season in 2024.

He succeeded former coach Onen, who guided the Lady Cranes through qualification from Division II and helped the side retain its Division I status. Athiyo is assisted by Kigongo Ssebalamu and Byron Okuba, with Dorcus Mundua Asiimire serving as team manager.

Attention now shifts to Wednesday’s encounter against South Africa, where Uganda will be hoping to put lessons from the Kenya defeat into practice and keep their Rugby Africa Women’s Cup hopes alive.