Throughout the Men’s Rugby Africa Cup 2024 tournament, eight teams competed to reach prestigious finals and be crowned the 2024 Champions. The games were played in Kampala, Uganda, at the Mandela National Stadium from 18th to 28 July 2024.
This was the first time the Rugby Africa Cup (RAC) was hosted in the region.
The Zimbabwe Sables were crowned the RAC 2024 Champions.
What is the Rugby Africa Cup Tournament, and how does a team qualify?
Sixteen teams compete in the Rugby Africa Cup (RAC) qualifiers to qualify for the Rugby World Cup in 2027. This format is more inclusive and easier to follow. The top 16 teams based on the African ranking compete in a single coordinated competition until the last two face each other in the final.
The first stage consists of a qualifying round: the teams ranked 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th oppose those ranked 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th in a single match at home. The winner of each of these four matches progresses to the group phase.
In this second stage, the 12 teams are divided into four pools; inside each pool, the three teams play against each other in a home or away game. The winner of each group progresses to the final tournament of the RAC.
The top eight teams from Africa meet in one venue for the final stage of the RAC, which will include four quarter-finals, two semi-finals, a playoff for third place, and, ultimately, the final decides who becomes the African champions. In this case, the 2024 Rugby Africa Champions were Zimbabwe Sables.
President of Rugby Africa, Herbert Mensah, congratulates the Zimbabwe team on winning the Men’s Rugby Africa Cup 2024 at Mandela National Stadium, Namboole in Kampala, Uganda.
Between the elimination series, the group rounds, and the final tournament, twenty matches are played in up to sixteen different host countries across Africa.
How did Uganda get to host the Rugby Africa 2024 Tournament?
During the World Rugby Annual General meeting in France in November 2023, the current President of Uganda Rugby Union, Godwin Kayangwe, approached the World Rugby President and shared his desire for Uganda to host the Rugby Africa Cup 2024 in Kampala, Uganda.
Of course, there were challenges to overcome: meeting the financial obligations and commitments as a host and all the standards and technical requirements in the Rugby Africa Cup Tournament Manual.
The President of Uganda Rugby Union, Godwin Kayangwe (L), takes a tour of the Mandela National Stadium in Kampala with the Rugby Africa President, Herbert Mensah (R)
The Uganda Rugby Union President was so determined that Uganda would host the RAC 2024 that he called the Minister of Sports for an Authority to host.
This was granted on behalf of the Uganda Government, and World Rugby issued a confirmation letter to the Uganda Rugby Union. Then, preparations began.
Uganda has the hosting rights for two years, with the 2025 one being the final to World Cup 2027.
The designated pitch at Mandela National Stadium, on which all the games were played during the Rugby Africa Cup 2024 tournament, was ready in time for the battle of Africa’s No.1
The newly revamped Namboole stadium would be the main pitch for most of the games, and the Muteesa II Stadium in Wankulukuku would take on some of the games but also act as a backup stadium as it is a requirement for hosting with such high standards tournament.
World Rugby passed the host stadium with flying colours, meaning that the Mandela National Stadium met all the requirements to host the Rugby Africa Cup.
The Mandela National Stadium in Kampala, Uganda
Namboole National Stadium’s pitch was high-quality and met all the technical standards, although some areas, including the seating areas for the fans and supporters, have yet to be finalised.
Staff maintaining the Mandela National Stadium pitch during the 2024 Men’s Rugby Africa Cup, in Kampala, Uganda.
Pitch sprinklers and irrigation systems at the Rugby pitch after Day One of the RAC 2024. The pitch at Mandela National Stadium is managed and maintained by a dedicated team of experts and engineers whose sole role is to take care of it.
The Minister for Sport, Peter Ogwang, the URU President, together with members of the Uganda Rugby Union, inspecting the works at Mandela National Stadium, Namboole, before the commencement of the Rugby Africa Cup tournament 2024
The Uganda Government has been very supportive of hosting the tournament. All the stakeholders, agencies, and bodies involved in running the sport were fully involved to ensure the smooth running of the event. The government security agencies gave it their all and ensured that the event ran smoothly until the end.
“One of the main achievements I am happy with is getting the government to understand that rugby can be played on the same pitch as soccer, which eases rugby’s accessibility.” Kayangwe, the President of the Rugby Union, adds.
Godwin Kayangwe also serves as an executive committee member on the Uganda Olympic Committee and a Committee member of Rugby Africa.
The Rugby pitch at Mandela National Stadium is ready to host the Rugby Africa Cup 2024
The stadium facilities, e.g., the washrooms and other amenities, were ready for the Rugby Africa Cup 2024
Because of that, Rugby can be considered when constructing other modern stadiums, such as the Akii Bua stadium in Northern Uganda, leading to the growth of world-class rugby standards. In Namboole, the stadium is constructed with different connecting sockets for the poles hidden under the turf. All you do is change the poles to the sockets and the pitch markings, and you are ready for a game of Rugby.
Part of the Local Organising Committee of the RAC 2024. (L-R). Peter Odong, the General Secretary of the Uganda Rugby Union, Murriel Atai, the Head of Accreditation, and Emma Fudribo, Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, have a moment to watch the Uganda vs Senegal match.
Medical Standards
Rugby Africa stipulates the minimum medical standards the host Union must meet in its Tournament Manual.
The Uganda Rugby Union met the minimum standards required to host the 2024 Rugby Africa Cup with the Tournament Medical Manager, Match Day Doctor, Immediate Care Lead, Tournament Team Doctor, and an Immediate Care Team available on all match days.
A World Rugby Tournament Team Doctor provided team doctor services to all teams during the tournament. Their role included providing off-field game day support if requested by the Team Physiotherapists.
During the Rugby Africa 2024 Tournament, ambulances were fully equipped and ready for any medical situation at the Mandela National Stadium.
During the Rugby Africa 2024 Tournament, ambulances were fully equipped and ready for any medical situation at the Mandela National Stadium.
Ambulances were stationed at the Mandela National Stadium grounds in case of any emergency transfer of injured players to designated hospitals or trauma centres. The ambulances were fully equipped and ready to provide advanced life support and spinal evacuation services.
Luckily, in this tournament, there were no significant injuries to any players, but any that occurred were swiftly handled by the medical team on standby.
Who played at the 2024 Rugby Africa Cup, and how many countries can qualify for the World Cup?
The Captains of the Eight National Rugby teams that participated in the Rugby Africa 2024 Tournament in Kampala at the Mandela National Stadium, Namboole.
The Captains of the Eight National Rugby teams that participated in the Rugby Africa 2024 Tournament in Kampala at the Mandela National Stadium, Namboole.
Eight nations arrived in Kampala, Uganda, ahead of the Men’s Rugby Africa Cup 2024. These included Algeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and the hosts, Uganda.
The team that wins the Men’s Rugby Africa Cup in 2025 will automatically qualify for the World Cup.
Operating in a straight knockout format, the tournament will feature a new team, making eight African countries based on the World Rugby Rankings to battle for the number one position in Africa.
The 2025 Rugby Africa Cup winner will automatically qualify for the Rugby World Cup 2027.
The 2027 Men’s Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the eleventh edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men’s rugby union teams. It is scheduled to take place in Australia from 1st October to 13th November 2027.
Burkina Faso was relegated in the just-concluded tournament after losing the 7th—8th place playoff to Cote d’Ivoire.
Côte d’Ivoire National Rugby team players at Mandela National Stadium
They will be replaced by the winning team from the 2024 men’s Rugby Africa Cup Repechage, which will take place later this year in Morocco.
As it stands, the pairings for the 2025 men’s Rugby Africa Cup are as follows:
- 1 vs 8: Zimbabwe vs Rugby Africa Cup Repechage winner
- 2 vs 7: Algeria vs Cote d’Ivoire
- 3 vs 6: Namibia vs Senegal
- 4 vs 5: Kenya vs Uganda
Uganda Rugby Cranes team players celebrate a win during the RAC 2024 Tournament at Mandela National Stadium.
Happy Ugandan Rugby fans at the RAC 2024 Tournament in Mandela National Stadium, Namboole.
So what happens? Is there a chance for any other team to qualify for the World Cup after the Rugby Africa Cup 2025?
There is a chance for a third African team to go to the World Cup in Australia, in addition to South Africa, and the winner of the RAC 2025.
However, those teams knocked out at the quarter- or semi-final stage do not have a second chance, so none of the teams take anything for granted at this stage.
The loser to the RAC 2025 finalists has a second chance to qualify but gets to play the other countries that lost to the finalists in all the different regions. This is known as repechage.
What is repechage, and how does it work?
‘Repechage’ is a French word that translates into English as ‘fishing out’ or ‘rescuing.’
It is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who fail to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to advance to the next round. This effectively gives participants in an event who came agonizingly close to qualification a second chance.
In Rugby, the qualification processes for the Rugby Union World Cup and the Rugby League World Cup use a repechage system.
Uganda Rugby Cranes team players who participated in the 2024 Rugby Africa Cup Tournament held in Kampala, Uganda.
In this case, the losers to the finalists of the RAC 2025 get to play with the losing teams in the other regions in a final qualification tournament. The specifics of the repechage system are given and detailed by World Rugby.
It is, however, challenging to play the repechage because you compete against solid teams that lost by a small margin but strongly want to qualify for the World Cup as well with this last chance. At this stage, the winner takes it all.
A section of Ugandan Rugby fans at Mandela National Stadium during the RAC 2024 Tournament
And why didn’t South Africa play in the RAC 2024?
Since winning the Rugby World Cup (RWC) in 2023, South Africa has been ranked No. 1 globally.
Namibia is the next African country in the rankings at 25, followed by Zimbabwe (28) and Uganda (36).
Source: World Rugby Rankings as of 1st August 2024: https://www.world.rugby/rankings
In World Rugby, the top 12 countries don’t play any qualifiers. They are at a Performance level and don’t need to compete to qualify for the Rugby World Cup; they automatically qualify.
Rugby Africa and World Rugby Delegates, the Rugby Africa EXCOM Committee Members, Friends, and many more. Viva Uganda and unforgettable memories
In addition to showcasing world-class hosting standards, we were privileged to host Rugby Africa and World Rugby delegates and representatives, the Rugby Africa EXCOM, committee members including Federation Presidents, and many more officials and friends.
Here are some of the Rugby Africa and World Rugby Delegates, the Rugby Africa EXCOM, Committee Members, Friends, and many more.
(L-R) Paulina Lanco, Rugby Africa executive and women’s rugby advisory committee chairperson; Losson Mtongwiza, the Zimbabwe Rugby Union President; Clare Barrell, World Rugby Director of International Relations, Investment, and member Services; and Coralie van den Berg, Regional Partnerships Manager for Africa at World Rugby, pose for a photo moment at the Mandela National Stadium in Kampala, Uganda, after Zimbabwe was crowned the RAC 2024 Champions.
Rugby Africa EXCOM, Committee Members, Federation, Union, and World Rugby delegates at the 16th Rugby Africa Annual General Meeting at Speke Resort Munyonyo, in Kampala, Uganda
Rugby Africa EXCOM and other delegates during the 16th Annual General Meeting at Speke Resort Munyonyo, Kampala, Uganda
(L-R) Ronnie Kyazze, a member of the Uganda Rugby Union and President of the Land Rover Uganda Club; Itai Chataurwa, Chairman of Zimbabwe Rugby Under 20; Harriet Okach, Director Commercial at the Kenya Rugby Union; and Lucy April, a member of the Land Rover Uganda Club, at the Mandela National Stadium during the RAC 2024 Tournament.
The Rugby Africa President, Herbert Mensah, joins happy Ugandan fans to celebrate happy moments during The 2024 Ruby Africa Cup at the Mandela National Stadium.
The Rugby Africa Cup 2024 offered Uganda an opportunity for networking, considering that some resting days didn’t have any matches.
To the Ugandan rugby community, this was an opportunity to showcase our skills, our hospitality, and our nation’s vibrant rugby spirit. Uganda demonstrated to Africa and the world the power of Rugby to unite, inspire, and create lasting bonds of friendship and respect upon which we have built our game’s culture.
The Uganda Rugby Union team did their best to prepare the boys for the tournament, and we look forward to an exceptional competition.
The Rugby Africa Cup 2024 became an unforgettable chapter in the history of Ugandans and African Rugby as a whole.
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Written by : Ronnie Kyazze
Founder and Chairman of the Land Rover Uganda Club, I bring a strong technical edge to my roles within rugby, contributing to the game's organisation, integrity, and growth. A qualified IT Professional and Road Safety Ambassador, I combine structure and precision with a passion for rugby, motorsport and travel. I’m driven by curiosity, always eager to explore, and a passionate writer at heart.
