The National Rugby 7s Calendar takes a two-week hiatus after the Tooro 7s, and deservedly so – we all need to take a breather and take it all in.
The KOBs finally got their silverware, and the Black Pearls are starting to see the end of the sail with one hand firmly on the loot.
The KOBs beat Plascon Mongers in the finale to defend their Tooro 7s crown and, in so doing, leapfrogged the Stanbic Black Pirates to lead the overall standings.
The Good
Congratulations KOBs! You can galivant for the next two weeks because you’ve earned it.
The streets have been hungry for a mercurial Joseph Aredo, and we have been denied the pleasure of watching him.
Tooro 7s answered that call. The best players always turn up on the biggest stages when their teams need a spark of inspiration.
The KOBs had been a near-performance team, losing the Stone City 7s and Rujumba 7s finals to Pirates and Heathens, respectively.
Lessons were learnt, and the KOBs united in one blood to give their fans something to smile about and shelve complaints about anything and everything.
The Black Pearls will need a glacier at sea to halt their ascendency to the title, just as they did in 2022. The skirmish in Jinja was just that, a minor setback.
The Black Pearls are on course to win the Women’s 7s for the third time in a row unless a seismic effort alters that.
They scored 134 points in Buhinga stadium and were only breached in the final by MVP Kirabo Sarah’s Avengers.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Plascon Mongers are back. The Entebbe-based side went a step further and bettered their Rujumba 7s performance with a finals appearance in Tooro 7s.
The Hippos are always going to be spooked when they see the Mongers anywhere. It is ceasing to be funny now.
The Carnage
When it rains in Tooro 7s, it certainly does pour. Every team in Tooro 7s lost at least one game —all the men’s teams, so to speak. For the ladies, Pearls are just untouchable.
On day 1, the Heathens lost two group games to the core sides, Rhinos and Impis.
Mongers, for the second consecutive tourney, inflicted damage on the Hippos. It is starting to be a rivalry rugby revellers love, something out of the old and tired KOBs/Heathens/Pirates. We love it.
In their last group game, the Rams continued their Rujumba 7s revival and beat up on eventual winners, KOBs.
Out for revenge, the KOBs made a statement win, putting the Pirates to the sword, and threw them out of the main cup at the quarterfinal stage.
Omuceere Mu Nyama
The Platinum Credit Heathens had a sour serving of rice in Tooro. Like the Kampala Night crawlers usually exclaim in the morning after – what was that!?!
On day one at Buhinga Stadium, the Heathens only managed to beat the 16th-seeded Kigezi Silverbacks.
The Impis and Rhinos had been teasing to beat them, and both teams finally got wins from the yellow machine. Owing to these defeats, Heathens didn’t make the main cup quarters.
This meant that the best position the Heathens would get would be ninth – a huge disappointment given that they had won a circuit just seven days earlier.
The best they have to show for that Tooro 7s is … surprise surprise … the Challenger Trophy! Again…what is that?!
The only people who ate from the proper serving of the muceere were the ever-green Lawrence Ssebuliba and the rising star, Oyuk Julius.
We wrote a while back that the Heathens need to let the young lads establish themselves on the circuit, and that is precisely what they need to do.
There is no shame in planning now for a bumper harvest later. Some old heads need to let the young boys play and only help on the sideline.
And finally, Mucunguzi William needs to apologize to Micheal Wokorach.
Courtesy Photos
1 comment
No apology to Michael wokos