Kobs retained the Tooro circuit (Tooro 7s) of the Nile Special 7s Series on Sunday after beating Plascon Mongers 28-00 in the final played at Buhinga Stadium in Fort Portal Tourism City. This was the fourth circuit of the season with three events left to wind down the 2023 campaign.
Prior to the Fort Portal circuit, Kobs were second on the table with 55 points, six behind Stanbic Black Pirates who were leading the table for the first three circuits. However, a lot has changed since then especially around the podium with Kobs now in charge.
There were serious upsets in Fort Portal and Platinum Credit Heathens were the biggest casualty as they failed to make it out of their group after losing two of the three group stage matches. During Saturday’s group stage matches, Heathens fell to Impis (20-21), Rhinos (10-17) and only managed a victory against invited regional outfit Kigezi Silverbacks (55-00). They were dropped to the Challenge competition which they won.
For Kobs, they didn’t have a perfect day as they lost one of the three group stage matches. They fell to Rams (05-07) but beat hosts Tooro Lions 40-07 and condemned regional side Mustangs to a 53-00 mauling.
Pirates was the only top side which had a perfect outing on day one (group stage). They beat Buddu Bears 43-00, beat Walukuba Barbarians 31-07 and withstood pressure to beat Toyota Buffaloes 07-14 in their final group stage game.
However, Pirates were seeded against Kobs in the quarter final, and on Saturday evening pundits were saying that the winner of this tie will go ahead and win the circuit with Heathens out of the picture. It came to pass with Kobs beating Pirates 05-17.
In the other quarter finals, Impis lost 00-22 against Jinja Hippos, Mongers beat Buffaloes 17-05 whilst Rhinos best Rams 19-00.
Kobs went ahead to beat Jinja Hippos 05-19 in the semifinal and later beat Mongers 28-00 in the final. Mongers had beaten Buffaloes 17-05 in the other semi-final. Pirates could only manage a fifth place finish after beating Rhinos 17-12 in the 5th/6th position placement game.
Kobs now lead the series with 77 points, three ahead of Pirates who have dropped to second on the table following a ‘crazy weekend’ in Fort Portal. Heathens are still third with 62 points while title holders Hippos are still fourth now with 58 points, just four ahead of fifth placed Buffaloes.
Mongers who had a good show in Fort Portal are sixth with 50 points, six ahead of seventh placed Rhinos. Impis are eighth with 40 points, five ahead of ninth placed Walukuba Barbarians. Rams are 10th with 32 points whilst Warriors are at the bottom of the 11-core-team table with 20 points.
Meanwhile, in the women’s division, Black Pearls are still in charge after they beat Avengers 12-05 in the final of the Fort Portal circuit. Black Pearls lead the table with 83 points whilst Avengers are second with 77 points. Thunderbirds are third with 72 points While Nile Rapids are at the bottom with 60 pints.
For the men’s division, the Fort Portal circuit was the last for the Uganda Sevens players. They will be out for the rest of the season with preparations for the Africa Men’s Sevens scheduled for 16-17 September in Harare, Zimbabwe set to get underway.
The series will take a one-weekend break before action returns to Kampala for the Kyadondo 7s slated for Saturday, 12th and Sunday, 13th August at Kyadondo Rugby Club. The next weekend the series will head to Tororo (19th and 20th August) and the finale will happen on 2nd and 3rd September in Jinja.
