Uganda to face Samoa in 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens

KAMPALA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Uganda will face off with Samoa in a preliminary round of 16 in the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens scheduled for July 20-22 at the AT&T Park in San Francisco, United States.

Ramzy Olinga, Chief Executive Officer of the Uganda Rugby Union, told Xinhua in an interview that in the draw, the winner between Uganda and Samoa will face England.

Olinga said according to the new format the losers in the preliminary round of 16 will drop to the Bowl Cup, losers in round of 16 drop to the Challenge Trophy and winners move to the Championship.

"This is a very tough format where every game counts and not like in the past when teams were grouped," he said.

Uganda coach Tolbert Onyango told Xinhua that the new format calls for better preparations because every match will count.

"After the Commonwealth Games in Australia we start slowly on preparation for the World Cup so that we are in good shape," added Onyango.

The men's tournament will get underway on day one with Kenya, runners-up in the recent Hong Kong and Vancouver legs of the HSBC World Sevens Series, facing Tonga in the first game of the preliminary round.

Africa's other representatives Zimbabwe who will battle in the preliminary round will face Wales. South Africa who are among the top ranked automatically qualify for the round of 16 where they wait to face the winner between Ireland and Chile.

Uganda qualified for the Rugby Sevens World Cup last year after beating Zimbabwe 22-10 to retain the Africa Sevens Rugby Cup. New Zealand are the reigning World Cup champions.

The tournament features the men's and women's categories. Enditem