For the lovers of the game watching the Mileke Border 7s on the Kawowo Sports broadcast, the zoom in and out of the Tororo rock scenery was orgasmic.
It was a marvelous backdrop for the fans in the stands and pitchside. From everywhere you look, the Mileke Border 7s in the forefront of the Tororo rock were an excellent outing of rugby and tourism.
The Barbarians
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new circuit winner – the Walukuba Barbarians. The invasion was successful.
For the very first time in their history, the Walukuba Barbarians slayed every demon in their wake to achieve the ultimate glory at the Mileke Border 7s.
The ascension of the Barbarians to the podium is not an overnight success. The win from last weekend was, according to coach Leonard Lubambula, just a pitstop to the race for success that is going to be had by this team.
If we all recall pretty sternly, the Barbarians started to put the country on notice when they took down the Black Pirates in the 2022 edition of the Tooro 7s, winning 15-05.
Since then, they haven’t turned back, and that accurately reflects on the premiership standings in the first half of the year and how they ensured they weren’t anywhere close to the relegation discussion.
Captain Bob Kawanda is spitting fire, and he has the right to. The team has done so much work in the background, and they’re starting to reap the fruits of their hard work.
It means the world to them that they go into their home circuit as the team to beat – and have marked their 10th anniversary with a trophy on the National 7s calendar.
The Bad
Depending on the slang you subscribe to and the company you keep, this can go either way. We shall treat it that way.
Tolbert’s axe from last week did the KOBs badly. No team would lose 6/7 bona fide starters and stay the same. KOBs have been a shadow of themselves since the National team was assembled.
In two circuits, they have now lost positions and sit in third, having been on top after the end of the Tooro 7s.
It got so bad at the border that the KOBs fielded an ineligible player in Eugene Ikaaba against the Barbarians on Day 1.
For this, they were penalized by awarding the latter a walkover. The player in question, Eugene Ikaaba, also appears on the official team sheet of the Kiira Cros.
Emilly Lekuru is bad news. Suspended for six games during the Tooro 7s, the Pearls faced their nemeses without their most elite weapon, Emilly Lekuru.
This meant she sat out one game in Tooro 7s, the entire Kyadondo 7s series, and another in Tororo.
Upon return, she scored tries, back like she never left, amassed six five-pointers while at it, and led the Pearls even closer to defending the National Sevens crown.
If you’ve watched Samuel L Jackson, you know exactly what he would say.
Tororo Crest
In the beginning, it was funny when they were going ping-pong with the Heathens, and no one knew anything about them.
But as day one wound down and they were beating up on the Core team in Pool A and accurate information of the +254 citizenry was made public, the cries grew louder, and plots to avoid playing them were getting drawn.
Towards the end of Day 1, Kawowo Sports scribe Ernest Akorebirungi revealed that Tororo Crest was an assembly from the Kenya National Sevens that was on break for that particular weekend.
Everyone was thrown into a frenzy, arguing the legality of players participating in two separate union programs, and we all forgot they were an invitational side.
The Tororo Crest was not going anywhere, and the Hippos faced their wrath very early on day 2. The invitational side came from behind to bruise the Hippos and win 14-10.
Up next were table leaders, Stanbic Black Pirates. In recent memory, the Pirates have embraced the Voldermort role of Ugandan rugby.
But, in an unprecedented move, the sidelines united to support their Ugandan brothers against the barnstorming Tororo Crest.
It was the most intense the Pirates have played all year, and it was a victory all Ugandans celebrated.
Short of that, we would have been a serving of mockery from the neighbors beyond the Elgon.
The availability of Kenyans playing on invitation shook the status quo last weekend and caught many off guard. It is a reality check we needed, and we need more.
Rugby now takes a rest to nurse the injuries from Tororo as revelers get ready to storm Jinja for the final round, the Kyabazinga 7s, hosted by the Tororo 7s champions, Walukuba Barbarians.
Courtesy Photos
