Rugby revellers from different corners of the country crossed the Jinja bridge to witness the opening circuit of the Nile Special 7s rugby series hosted by Jinja Hippos at Dam Waters.
With the tournament happening on the same weekend as Roast and Rhyme in the city, the source of the Nile asked for water as the party beaters never gave it a rest.
The circuit lived up to the hype, quenching the rugby-thirsty community that had been deprived of high-intensity games since the end of the Nile Special Rugby Premier League in May.
The circuit started in high gear as the hosts and defending national champions suffered defeat at the hands of their neighbours – the Walukuba barbarians in the Jinja derby.
Both sides were able to qualify for the quarters, but fell short, unable to make it to the semis due to Kobs and Impis.
Heathens pay heavily for indiscipline
Heathens were poised to make an appearance in the final but fell short due to ill-discipline.
The yellow machines were out to conquer more yellow as they accumulated yellow cards across their games hungrier than Thanos collecting infinity stones.
They seemed to be in control of their semi-final match-up against Kobs but ended up playing a man less for the biggest part of the game, from which Faraj Odugo capitalized and scored a screamer that led Kobs into the final.
Rhinos put in a decent shift
Rhinos orchestrated the most impressive performances of the circuit, especially in their group stage against the Pirates.
They scored 3 unanswered tries against the national 15s league champions in the first half.
However, they failed to hang onto the lead as a relentless Pirates piled pressure to score 2 quick tries and the third one in the final play to win the game 17-21.
Rhinos went on to face Heathens in the quarters finals, but unfortunately lost 19-12, with Allan Olango weaving a dominant performance.
Pirates star Kisiga leads by example
The Stanbic Pirates went into the circuit with a price to their heads.
Everyone was out to get them as they were declared circuit favorites after announcing their squad for the tournament which social media called the national team.
The Bweyogerere side made its way to the finals without losing any of their games and kept it that for the whole circuit, emerging winners of the competition.
Timothy Kisiga epitomized the saying “there’s no substitute for pace” after several linebreaks which translated into points on board.
There seemed moments when Pirates had run out of magic, but the speedster waved his wand and spun straw into gold chumps. It wasn’t a surprise when he was announced Player Of The Circuit.
Day two’s wanting hygiene
Issues of hygiene were raised especially for teams without a second kit. Only Pirates and Impis were seen to have a change of kits across the two days.
The Walukuba Barbarians and Mongers got to launch their new kits into action, as other teams relied on the national team kit to supplement their jerseys.
Yes, other teams struggled to raise even just one complete kit but that’s a topic for another day.
The national series moves to the North, Kitgum district this weekend, being hosted by the Kitgum Lions.
With Kitgum being over 480km from Kampala, teams are set for the ultimate test of financial muscle and squad depth.
Courtesy Photos
