Uganda rugby legend Michael Wokorach retires

Uganda’s rugby veteran Michael Wokorach is set to retire as a player of the sport at the end of 2025. 

The local rugby enthusiasts have organised a testimonial match dubbed ‘Gonya’s last run’, December 20, at Legends Rugby Grounds to bid farewell to one of the greatest sportsmen of the past two decades. 

The testimonial match will wrap up a career span that boasts of 19 years experience at the highest level, serial champion both at national and club level and also a leadership figure. 

His rugby journey began with Buffaloes RFC between 2006 and 2007 before he joined Heathens RFC in 2008, a club he has loyally served for 18 years.

At the international level, Wokorach has been a pillar of Ugandan rugby. He earned 54 test caps for the Rugby Cranes XVs, representing the national side between 2009 and 2019, and later from 2021 to 2023.

 In sevens rugby, he featured prominently for Uganda Sevens from 2009 to 2023, playing a central role in the team’s rise on the continental and global stage. He also represented Rugby Uganda Legends during the same period and was named in the Uganda All Stars squad in 2025.

He is an 11-time Rugby Premiership champion, lifting the title across multiple eras between 2009 and 2024. 

He has also won the Uganda Cup seven times, the National Sevens Series six times, and the Makerere 10s on three occasions. 

On the regional front, he was part of Uganda’s Elgon Cup-winning teams in 2012 and 2015, the Victoria Cup-winning side in 2023, and the Elgon Warriors team of 2012.

On the continental stage, Wokorach helped Uganda claim the Rugby Africa Men’s Sevens title three times (2016, 2017 and 2022) and finished runner-up on two occasions.

 He also featured in two Rugby Sevens World Cups (2018 and 2022), famously helping Uganda secure the Bowl title at the 2022 tournament, and represented the country at four Commonwealth Games between 2010 and 2022.