Uganda Rugby Cranes head coach Tolbert Onyango says very tight defending will be needed when they open their campaign against Samoa at the 2018 Rugby Sevens World Cup in San Francisco.
"We know Samoa are a very physical side and play lots of wide rugby, which we must make sure we counter from the start of the game to the finish.
"These boys are rearing to go because they are aware the whole nation will be looking at them," Onyango told KweséESPN before the team departed on Sunday morning.
Uganda Rugby Cranes will start their campaign against Samoa in the preliminary round of the World Cup on 21 July at the AT&T Park.
"Yes, we are underdogs going for our first World Cup and we know Samoa are handled by one of the best sevens coaches, Sir Gordon Frederick Tietjens. But we are not scared and the boys are upbeat and looking forward to go and prove to the world that they are good enough," added Onyango, a former Kenya international.
"We must believe in ourselves, keep to our game plan and be able to defend wide in an organised manner. We have worked pretty hard on the defending side and with better conditioning of the players. We must be very alert on countering Samoa's physicality in our opening game. This is a knockout and anything can happen when you plan well," explained Onyango.
Uganda Rugby Cranes have used the Cape Town Sevens, Dubai Sevens, Zimbabwe Sevens, World Series qualifier in Hong Kong and the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games to prepare the team ahead of the Rugby Sevens World Cup.
"Along the way we got some challenges because of our small player base. This led to some of our players taking part in the 15 Gold Cup/World Cup qualifier which hampered preparations because some got injured, such as Lawrence Ssebuliba with a broken hand and Marvin Odong, who broke his jaw," added Onyango.
Uganda state minister for sports Charles Bakkabulindi is expected to travel to the USA this week to support the team.
"Rugby in Uganda has been improving and being at the World Cup is not by mistake. I am confident the team will represent the country well," Bakkabulindi said on Sunday. Should Uganda defeat Samoa, they will battle England in the Round of 16. Giants South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe will be Africa's other representatives at the event.