While much of the rugby world’s attention has been glued to the Uganda Rugby Premiership Play-off semifinals, where title contenders have battled for glory, another war is being quietly waged at the other end, one of survival.
And at Kitante Primary School last weekend, the Entebbe Mongers took a vital step toward retaining their Premiership status with a 28-14 win over the Eagles in the first leg of the relegation playoffs.
But despite the scoreline, Mongers head coach Brian Makalama knows that the job is far from over.
“We had a very good first half and then decided to sleep in the second half,” Makalama admitted bluntly after the match.
“So we were not able to score more points in the second half. But it’s a work in progress.”
Indeed, it was a tale of two halves. The Mongers roared into the lead with an aggressive and disciplined first-half performance.
Robin Odrua was particularly outstanding, slotting in three penalty kicks, scoring two tries and converting two for a personal haul that underlined his value to the team.
Irumba added another try to give the Mongers a comfortable cushion heading into halftime.
But after the break, the Entebbe side’s focus wavered, allowing the Eagles to claw their way back with penalties from Job Wembabazi and Jason and a try by Baguma.
Though Mongers maintained their lead, the momentum shift was clear.
Makalama, who took over the coaching reigns mid-way last season, has overseen a team that has shown flashes of brilliance but struggled with consistency, an issue he attributes to frequent coaching changes and shifting strategies.
“Coaching the Premiership is a process,” he explained. “It’s switching around coaches with different game plans. So it is always difficult for teams to cope up with new game plans. And I think that’s a struggle Mongers has.”
Despite this, the coach remains optimistic. “Slowly, slowly we are picking lessons and I believe we shall play better,” he said, looking ahead to the return leg in Entebbe next weekend.
Still, Makalama knows the areas that need urgent attention.
“We struggled a lot in our support play. We gave out easy turnovers,” he pointed out.
“That will be an area of more concern to me. I need to work on the concentration and mental of the players. In the second half, yes, we played rugby but we didn’t convert rugby into points. So we need to sharpen that.”
In the other Weekend relegation playoff, Warriors attained a 00-20 walkover against Elgon Wolves in Mbale.
Only two of the four teams will stay in the Premiership while the other two will slide to the Rugby Championship.
Round 2 | May 3, | 4 PM
- Warriors Vs Elgon Wolves – Legends
- Mongers Vs Eagles – Entebbe
