The turn of the year provided fireworks for the skies, and on the ground, the Kampala rugby club, aka Legends, will explode as two titans, KOBs and Pirates, meet in the quarterfinals of the Uganda Cup on Saturday at 4:00PM.
Fireworks will go off as captain Ivan Magomu and coach Marvin Odongo dock the Pirates’ ship at Legends, a ground where they have registered tremendous success, most recently winning their second premiership title on the last day, at the expense of the KOBs.
KOBs are hosting this particular bout owing to topping their group, while the Pirates came second in their group after that shocking opening-day defeat to the Kampani’s Eagles.
The two sides split the wins in the Premiership, with either team surrendering home advantage to the visitors – KOBs being the only team to defeat the Pirates, with the latter serving cold revenge and winning the trophy on enemy turf.
The stage is set for another classic
Even with the National Sevens stars excluded from this blockbuster, it is set to be a cracker, seeing the depth in both squads.
Needing a win in their last group game, the Pirates summoned their strongest side to end 2023 on a high, while the KOBs hardly left second gear during the group stages.
Fresh off a Victoria Cup win, split Elgon Cup game wins, and a sweep in Tunisia, co-captain Conrad Wanyama and Ivan Magomu are buzzing to translate that spirit into their local side.
They are buoyed by the shining national debuts of engines Sydney Gongodyo, Zziwa Moses and the return of the dummy vendor, Haruna Muhammad.
The KOBs will have a host of their hopes resting on the shoulders of the ever-green Raumdeuter, Joseph Aredo.
Joseph had a successful year locally and internationally, holding the fort down during the tiresome end of the National Sevens calendar and a return to national colours, in which he featured and scored against Tunisia in both legs.
KOBs will be hopeful Faraji Odugo has recovered from the injury that kept him out of the second leg against Tunisia to help balance the scales in their favour, in the front row.
The business end of the Uganda Cup always provides sparks, and there is no better way to get sparks flying about than when KOBs and Pirates exchange hostilities.
Pirates were last year’s Uganda Cup first runners-up, while the KOBs were the second runners-up.
Courtesy Photos
