The Jinja Hippos first bonus point win this season does not tell the tale of the game at Dam Waters since it was made up of many rookie errors that on any other day would have proved to be costly.
A fired up and defensively well organized young Kampani Eagles team kept the game in check up to the last quarter before Fidel Aremo‘s try finally gave the Hippos breathing space in what was a competitive National Rugby Championship match.
The Jinja Hippos dominated the first twenty minutes with two quick tries from swift winger Bruno Kisule and strong flanker Andrew Odhiambo.
Yasin Wasswa whose kicking boot is still missing, failed to add on the points and this proved costly as Eagles looked to crawl back into the game after two well taken penalties setting the game at 10-6.
The Jinja Hippos who were only eying a bonus point win were not done and made a try from what is believed to be their routine move off the scrum on the Eagles 22 and this was finished off by young winger Elvis Opira.
Wasswa failed to add on to the points again to leave the game at 15-6 for the first half.
The second half substitutions that were made to grant a rest to some of the players quickly increased the scores off the scrum with Eliphaz Emong making an easy touch down after the Hippos powered the Eagles passed their own try line before Yasin failed to collect the extras.
Eagles Fight Back
The invigorated Eagles were ready to spoil the party as they fought hard to get a try off the Hippos with more than six penalties awarded to them compared to the Hippos’ 5.
Ateng crossed the white wash and the try was well converted to give the Eagles hope as the game stood at 20-13.
The Jinja Hippos were but done as they pushed back to regain their bonus point lead and in what looked like the last play of the game, they had it safe from a try by fast flanker Aremo that was well converted by Elvis Opira to make the score 27-13.
The bloat of Hippos will head to the grave yard next weekend to re-claim their bragging rights from their X social media app nemesis the Impis who have won two out of their last three encounters against the Hippos.
Courtesy Photos
2 comments
great piece
Thanks👍🏿