Black Pirates and Heathens RFC are the last two teams standing in the 2024 National Rugby Championship after qualifying for the Playoff Finals on Saturday.

Pirates qualified for the Championship Playoffs Final after beating Jinja Hippos while Heathens edged old foe KOBs in the semifinal ties.

Pirates bounced from a first-leg one-point defeat at Damwaters to knock out Hippos by 54-51 points having won the closely contested return leg played at King’s Park, 27-23.

Heathens lost the return-leg match at Kyadondo, 18-15, but they won 42-36 on aggregate points. The return leg was a contest off the kicking tee between youngsters Malcom Okello (Heathens) and Calvin Gizamba (KOBs) with each scoring all the points for their respective teams.

When the two finalists met during the regular season, Heathens beat Pirates 16-12 at Kyadondo.

However, according to media reports, the final will be hosted at Mandela National Stadium in Namboole on 1st June.

Heathens RFC beat KOBs 29-18 in the first leg of the National Rugby Championship semifinal played at Legends Rugby Ground on Saturday.

Malcom Okello was the star of the evening as his 19 points off the tee (five penalties and two conversions) propelled Heathens to the victory that put them close to the finals at the expense of their rivals.

However, it was KOBs that got the early points opportunity but Joseph Aredo skewed his kick for points in the 3rd minute of the game before the Okello show, off the tee, started.

Josiah Ssempeke who came on for Cornrad Mukwaya took over the kicking duties and had three penalties and a try converted.

Malcom extended the lead to 15-03 before Heathens scored their opening try through Michael Wokorach which was converted to take the lead to 22-03

Sempeke added three more points but shortly after, Heathens scored a well-constructed try through Incocent Goktho, also converted by Okello.

KOBs started calling for the kicking tee but Sempeke missed back-to-back penalties before forwards put Heathens’ defense under immense pressure and came away with Mike Otto’s try that was converted before captain Derrick Tukwasibwe on the final play for a respectable score.

Heathens will host the return leg at Kyandondo next weekend.

There are two fresh faces as the Lady Rugby Cranes Sevens head to the Polish city of Kraków for the final leg of the World Rugby Sevens Challenger series.

The changes made in the squad to play at the tournament scheduled for May 18-19 are due to injury.

Gertrude Kateesa and Unity Namulala have replaced Sandra Amoli Lona and Racheal Mufuwa who featured in the opening two legs in Dubai and Montevideo.

Kateesa and Naamulala are not new to the set-up as they played at last year’s Safari Sevens where Uganda emerged as champions.

Lady Rugby Cranes 7s are currently placed fourth in the overall standings; tied on twenty-eight points with Belgium. Having reached the semifinals during both past rounds, another semifinal berth could be enough for them to book a ticket to the World Rugby SVNS Core Status Qualification Tournament in Madrid.

Argentina, Paraguay, and Papua New Guinea will be Uganda’s opponents during the pool phase of the two-day tournament.

The Squad

Lydia Namabiro, Mary Gloria Ayot, Grace Nabaggala, Sarah Kirabo, Juliet Nandawula, Maimuna Nassozi, Ritta Nadunga, Gertrude Kateesa*, Grace Auma, Agnes Nakuya, Unity Namulala*, Peace Lekuru (Captain)

Uganda Sevens will have five fresh faces at the 2024 World Rugby Sevens Challenger finale in Munich, Germany.

Head coach Tolbert Onyango named the team on Thursday morning and it includes Mubarak Wandera, Karim Arinaitwe, Mark Osuna, Allan Olango, and Aaron Tukei.

“We got a mix of experienced players and guys who have been in the camp for quite some time… over a year now. I think it’s an opportune time for us to get them tested at the top level. They have gone through the paces and I’m sure they’re going to give it their best in about a week’s time,” Onyango said of the team

Black Pirates’ flyhalf William Nkore will captain the squad in Munich with Alex Aturinda and Norbert Okeny as his assistants.

“We are looking forward to a good performance from this side. There will be good stories to tell from Munich,” Onyango added.

Uganda Sevens are in Pool B with Hong Kong China, Tonga, and Mexico. They have only played against Mexico this season of the Challenger Series.

The Squad: Mubarak Wandera*, Allan Olango*, Alex Aturinda, Davis Shimwa, Mark Osuna*, Karim Arinaitwe*, Aaron Tukei*, Timothy Mugisha, Roy Kizito, Denis Etwau, Nobert Okeny, William Nkore (captain).

Rugby Championship Quarterfinal Results | Return Leg

• KOBs 51-16 Mongers | Agg: 68-29
• Heathens 28-16 Walukuba Barbarians | Agg: 53-16
• Buffaloes 12-05 Jinja Hippos | Agg: 33-45
• Black Pirates 30-27 Rhinos | Agg: 40-34

Rugby Championship Semifinal Fixtures

• Heathens vs KOBs
• Jinja Hippos vs Black Pirates

The top four sides in the country Heathens, KOBs, Black Pirates and Jinja Hippos are through to the National Rugby Championship Playoff semifinals.

While KOBs eased to a 51-16 win over Mongers at Legends and defending champions Heathens held off a competitive Walukuba Barbarians 28-16, it was not an easy sail for Pirates at King’s Park and Hippos couldn’t thrive in the mud of Kyadondo.

The Pirates needed a strong second-half performance to overcome the pedestrian opening half that saw them trail 21-00 to Rhinos. Ivan Kirabo’s boot and tries from Godwin Abwang and Arnold Ocen had Rhinos in charge in what looked like would be an upset.

However, Muhammad Haruna took charge in the second-half comeback from Pirates scoring a pair of tries and setting Paul Bagota with Jaden Isaac also scoring to draw the game level at 24.

From that point, it was the Pirates with the momentum and they went on to pick a slim win from the jaws of defeat.

At Kyadondo, the home side registered a 12-5 win after the morning downpour made it impossible to play the ball. Hippos had done all the work in the first leg in Jinja where they won by a huge margin.

The semifinals will be played over the next two weekends in a two-legged affair before a one-off final.

Eight clubs have booked their tickets to the 2024 National Rugby Championship Playoffs.

Going by the standings after Matchday 9, Heathens, Jinja Hippos, Black Pirates, Kobs, Buffaloes, Mongers, Rhinos, and Walukuba have secured playoff spots with the order to be decided after Matchday 11.

Walukuba, in eighth place, has twenty-two points and is 13 points ahead of the next team that can’t catch up even if they pick maximum points from the final two games of the regular season.

The business end of the season will get underway with the top seed taking on the 8th places team in the playoff quarterfinals, 2nd vs 7th, 3rd vs 6th, and 4th vs 5th.

World Rugby has released the pools for the final rounds of the 2024 HSBC Sevens Challenger.

The two competitions (Men and Women) will be played simultaneously from May 18-19 in Munich, Germany and Krakow, Poland respectively.

Uganda women’s team, the Lady Rugby Cranes, are in Pool B with Argentina, Paraguay, and Papua New Guinea. The team has played against all pool opponents, except Paraguay.

The tournament will be played at the Henryk Reyman’s Municipal Stadium in Krakow.

Meanwhile, at the Dandestadion in Munich, the men’s final round will also be played.

The Rugby Cranes 7s are in Pool B with Hong Kong China, Tonga, and Mexico. They have only played against Mexico so far this season.

At the end of the two tournaments, the overall top four teams from this season’s Sevens Challenger Series will compete against the overall bottom four teams from this season’s HSBC SVNS Series in the Grand Final qualification tournament.

The top four teams in those Grand Finals in Madrid, Spain to be played from May 31 to June 2 will qualify for the respective men’s and women’s 2025 SVNS Series.

While the men are out of contention for a place in Madrid, the Lady Rugby Cranes who have finished in the top place in Dubai and Montevideo need just another top-four finish to book a ticket to Madrid.

Uganda Women have won the inaugural gold medal in Rugby Sevens at the African Games.

The Lady Rugby Cranes achieved the feat after going unbeaten in four matches during the 13th edition of the games in Accra, Ghana.

In their final game at the University of Ghana Rugby Stadium, Uganda scored five unanswered tries to defeat Madagascar by 29-00.

Lydia Namabiro, Grace Auma (2), Peace Lekuru, and Grace Nabaggala scored the tries while Maimuna Nassozi kicked in two conversions.

Just like the ladies, the men’s sevens team also went unbeaten and won the gold medal of their event.

All Uganda Women’s Results

• Uganda 37-07 Tunisia
• Uganda 50-07 Ghana
• Uganda 33-12 Nigeria
• Uganda 29- 00 Madagascar

Uganda Women’s Team for the World Rugby Sevens Challenger second leg in Montevideo, Uruguay and All Africa Games in Accra, Ghana has been named.

There are changes to the team that played in Dubai during the opening leg of the Challenger Series as Black Pearl’s speedster Grace Auma returns and will give the team speed that it lacked.

Also making a return to the team after a while is Avengers utility back Juliet Nandawula who could be crucial at breakdowns with her quick ball recycling.

Janat Nandudu and Yvone Najjuma make way for Auma and Nandawula with the rest of the group that was in Dubai maintained.

Uganda made history by breaking into the top four in their first-ever challenger series.

The Team

1. Lydia Namabiro
2. Mary Gloria Ayot
3. Sarah Kirabo Nayiga
4. Grace Nabaggala
5. Rachael Mufuwa
6. Agnes Nakuya
7. Ritta Nadunga
8. Lona Sandra Amoli
9. Mayimuna Nassozi
10. Peace Lekuru
11. Juliet Nandawula
12. Grace Aum

Officials

• Head Coach: Charles Onen
• S&C Coach: Ssebalamu Kigongo
• Team Physio: Nelson Mayeku
• Team Manager: Prossy Nakakande

Kampala Old Boys (KOBs) Rugby Club management has named Victor Wadia as interim head coach.

Wadia replaces Brian Makalama with whom the club parted ways mutually after coming to the end of the tactician’s contract.

Makalama joined KOBs nearly two years ago, taking over from Fred Mudoola who was appointed Uganda Rugby Cranes head coach.

“We wish to inform our members and the rugby fraternity at large that Victor Wadia will be taking over the reins at KOBs RFC after mutually parting ways with Coach Brian Makalama,” a statement released by the club on Friday afternoon read in part.

“We are extremely grateful for Coach Brian Makalama’s contribution towards the elevation of KOBs RFC and wish him well in his future endeavours.

During Makalama’s two-season tenure, KOBs finished second and third in the Rugby Premier League, fifth and third in the National Sevens Series, and twice lost the Uganda Cup semifinal.

Wadia, who has been managing development side Boks and women’s club Panthers, will be assisted by Davis Kyewalabye and Allan Masiko. Kyewalabye was player-coach at KOBs for the past two seasons.