Dubai: Wild cards Uganda were most certainly looking forward to their game against old friends Scotland in Pool B of the men’s World Rugby Sevens Series at the Dubai Rugby Sevens on Friday.

Former 1970s dictator of the African country Idi Amin once famously declared himself the Last King of Scotland, as, much like Uganda, he related to Scotland’s rebellious attitude towards oppressive English rule.

The unlikely union between the two countries, who couldn’t be further apart in distance, culture and climate, was documented in the 1998 book turned 2006 film ‘The Last King of Scotland’. And sporting ties have remained with the Ugandan football team even managed by former Kilmarnock and Hibernian boss Bobby Williamson for five years up until 2013.

“I guess it’s one of those historical things that have faded away with time but there will always be that association in a nice way with the Scots,” said Uganda sevens coach Tolbert Omolo Onyango.

“It’s going to be an interesting game with Scotland, we have a good history with them and in fact at the last major tournament we played in, which was the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014, the Scots very much took care of us, especially with their fans in the stadium, who all adopted us as their second team.

“We have always felt much love from the Scots and a few of our players are even playing for local club sides over there in Scotland.”

Uganda were granted wild card slots to both Dubai and Cape Town, the opening two legs of the 10-stage HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, for beating Kenya to the African championships last month.

They will now be using this experience to prepare for the Hong Kong repechage in April, which if they win will qualify them to become a core World Rugby Sevens Series member in time for next season.

“First of all it’s great to meet the top 15 sides in the world and we are using the experience to gauge how far we are from the other teams who have been playing in the series for a while. Thirdly we are using it as preparation for Hong Kong,” added Onyango, whose side lost 46-0 to South Africa and 29-7 to the USA early on Friday.

“Judging from today’s games we are 50 per cent there, we just need to work more on our reaction and conditioning, so the next four months are crucial.

“The players are finding it rough. This is their first experience of meeting teams who have played in the series for 10 years, so it’s a massive gap, and a steep learning curve for them.

“But we expect to take lessons back to the drawing board and start afresh, if we beat anyone it will be an upset. Hopefully we do well enough to impress and get invited to many more events,” he added.