KAMPALA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Uganda has hired a high performance coach, Ninette Kruyt from South Africa to prepare the national team ahead of the 2018 Rugby Sevens World Cup scheduled from July 20 to 22 in the United States.

Ramzy Olinga, the CEO of the Uganda Rugby Union said on Wednesday that Kruyt will work with the national head coach Tolbert Onyango to prepare the team, Rugby Cranes.

"We decided to take advantage of her expertise because she is among the best in Africa as a high performance coach who is also a strength and conditioning expert," Olinga said.

Olinga said the team needs fine tuning ahead of the tournament.

"She arrived on Sunday and will be with the team for two weeks before she travels back and again returns next month for more sessions," Olinga said.

He said the team will then travel to South Africa for further training before it heads out to the United States.

Uganda together with South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe will represent the African continent at the 2018 Rugby Sevens World Cup.

The Rugby Cranes will open their campaign against Samoa in the preliminary round on July 20 at the AT&T Park in San Francisco.

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