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Charlotte Mudoola scored 26 points as Uganda beat Zambia 36-17 in the opening game of the Women’s Rugby World Cup Qualifiers on Tuesday.

The utility player who started at flyhalf scored a try with the rest of the points coming off her boot as the Lady Rugby Cranes registered a good start.

Angella Nanyonjo powered over for Uganda’s first try that was converted by Mudoola. The flyhalf would convert two penalties before scoring a try as the hosts led 20-00 at halftime.

Zambia who troubled Uganda every time they went to their backs scored first in the second half with outside center Jane Malisa breaking the line from her own 22.

The Lady Rugby Cranes, however, responded with a penalty from Mudoola and a try from skipper Peace Lekuru that was converted by Mudoola.

The Zambians kept putting the Lady Rugby Cranes under pressure and it paid off with Rennie Wilima running around the defense to score. Mary Lyamba couldn’t add the extras as her kick was short and wide.

Mudoola put the game to bed with a couple of penalties but Zambia were not done as Lyamba scored their third try under the uprights.

Uganda will take on their eternal rivals Kenya on Wdnesday (2nd November) next week.

Jinja Hippos are the National Sevens champpions!

The Hippos were the most consitent through out the series played across the country

Despite losing the final in the last circuit (Buffaloes 7s) at Kyadondo to Pirates, the side had already sealed the title by virtue of making the finals as they needed to finish in third place to walk away with the national title.

Hippos beat their nearest challenger Heathens 12-05 in the semifinals to seal their maiden title with 128 points, nine clear of Heathens (119) while Pirates (109) and KOBs (108) followed in third and fourth respectively and Impis completing the top five.

Hippos have been the fourth-best team for the past years, behind the big three of Heathens, KOBs and Pirates, in both 7s and 15s version, but were the most consistent top performers having reached the final in five of the seven circuits.

Saidi Atibu’s charges started poorly when they finished 5th at the Wakiso 7s after falling 10-05 in Impis in the quarters to settle for 13 points.

They however reached the final in the next two circuits – Entebbe and Arua – losing both to Heathens, came third at Rujumba 7s in Kings Park and went on top of leaderboard when they lost to KOBs in Fort Portal 7s final.

The Hippos extended their lead in the penultimate circuit they hosted in Jinja, which they went on to win to move seven points clear.

Going to Buffaloes 7s, they needed to finish third to take the overall title. They reached the quarters after coming out of an easy group that had Warriors, Jaguars and Rhinos.

In the quarters, they dispatched Mongers 10-00 to set up a mouthwatering semifinal clash with Heathens.

Tries from Taufik Bagalana and Timothy Mugisha handed them a win over Heathens and ultimately the title.

In the final, they lost to Pirates 07-00 with Timothy Odong scoring a converted try for the Sea Robbers, but the Hippos had already accumulated enough points.

Meanwhile, Walukuba Barbarians finished bottom and hence lose their 7s Core Status, with Rhinos who recently earned promotion taking the slot.

Table (Top 5)

  1. Jinja Hippos – 128pts
  2. Heathens – 119
  3. Pirates – 109
  4. KOBs – 108
  5. Impis – 87

The Uganda Rugby Union has announced dates for the 2022 Uganda Cup.

The knock-out competition last played in 2019 will be returning in November and will be played over four weekends.

November 23rd, December 3rd, 10th, and 17th are the dates that have been earmarked for the competition.

Sixteen (16) Men’s teams and eight (8) Women’s teams have been invited to compete in this year’s competition.

Invited Teams

Men

  1. Boks
  2. Buffaloes
  3. Heathens
  4. Hippos
  5. Impis
  6. Kobs
  7. Kyambogo
  8. Lira Bulls
  9. Mbarara Titans
  10. Mongers
  11. Pirates
  12. Rams
  13. Rhinos
  14. Toro Lions
  15. Walukuba Barbarians
  16. Warriors

Women

  1. Avengers
  2. Black Pearls
  3. Ewes
  4. Gulu Sprinters
  5. Kitgum Queens
  6. Lira Matrix
  7. Mbale Eagles
  8. Thunderbirds

Past Winners

KOBs picked their second successive circuit victory in the National Rugby Sevens Series after they beat Jinja Hippos 10-07 in the finals of Tooro 7s.

KOBs also won the fourth circuit (Rujumba 7s) held at Kings Park Arena, Bweyogerere is rejuvenated after struggling in the first three circuits that saw them not go past the quarterfinals.

The series defending champions were inspired by Joseph Aredo in the one-day event played at Buhinga Stadium in the tourism city of Fort Portal. Aredo was named the MVP of the circut.

Kobs climbed to third place on the table with 74 points after a commanding display.

Meanwhile, Jinja Hippos who have been the most consistent despite not winning a single circuit are now top of the table with 87 points. Heathens who were leading before the Fort Portal event drop to second place with 85 points.

Black Pirates who won the opening circuit of the season continue to struggle in the series. In Fort Portal, the Sea Robber didn’t make it out of the group stage. They are now fourth on the table with 72 points.

The next circuit of the series (Kyabazinga 7s) will be played this weekend at Kyabazinga Stadium in Bugembe, Jinja.

The final event of the season will be played at Kyadondo Rugby Club in Kampala.

Tooro 7s Selected Results

Finals

Semifinals

Uganda finished the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens in South Africa with some hardware after beating Germany in the Bowl final.

Coach Tolbert Onyango’s charges won the game 19-12 on Sunday morning at the Cape Town Stadium.

Philip Wokorach, Ian Munyani, and Michael Wokorach scored a try each two of which were converted by Philip.

The bowl victory means Uganda finished 17th in the tournament, an improvement from the 19th place finish on its debut in 2018 in San Francisco, USA.

“It’s an absolutely big win for us, it’s the first time winning against Germany and you can see the boys are very happy and proud of themselves,” Michael Wokorach said after the win.

“We have dug deep ever since we lost against Samoa and we came out strong on Day Two, and [on] Day Three we have finished with a very good performance against Germany.

“They are a very strong team but we knew our abilities and capabilities as a team and I think we came and executed well today.

“We fought hard for ourselves, we fought hard for our fans and we fought hard for our country.”

Uganda lost 33-07 to Samoa on Day One in the qualifier for Round of 16 but won all their classification (Bowl) games thereafter.

They regrouped and beat South Korea 12-00 and Hong Kong 14-05 in quarters and semis respectively to reach the final.

KOBs were last evening crowned winners of the Rujumba 7s, the fourth leg of the National Rugby Sevens Series, at Kings Park in Bweyogerere.

KOBs, the defending champions of the National Sevens, beat table leaders Heathens 10-07 in the final of the two-day event.

Aaron Jurua and Derrick Tukwasibwe scored two unconverted tries to hand KOBs their first win of the season.

Lawrence Ssebuliba’s try was consolation for Heathens who had won the previous two circuits.

It was the first solid outing for KOBs fans who had not gone past the quarterfinal stage in the opening three circuits – Wakiso, Entebbe, Arua – of the season.

KOBs breathed through the group, beating Jaguars (34-00), Rhinos (17-05), and Impis (14-00) to top the group on Saturday.

The circuit winners then eased past Sailors in the main cup quarterfinal with a 31-00 victory before edging Buffaloes 17-12 to reach the final.

Heathens, on the other hand, eliminated hosts Pirates 12-05 in a controversial quarterfinal before beating Jinja Hippos 10-05 in the semifinal.

The series takes a two-week break for the Rugby World Cup Sevens this weekend before returning with Tooro 7s (at Buhinga), then Kyabazinga 7s (at Bugembe), and end with Buffaloes 7s (at Kyadondo) when the overall winner will be crowned.

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final

National Rugby Premiership side Pirates is set to honour three fallen comrades Deogratius Tumuhairwe, Betungura Bewatte, and Derrick Kaswabuli in addition to the late Henry Rujumba at this year’s Rujumba Sevens.

The events will be held from September 3-4 at Kings Park and will draw memories of Tumuhairwe, a club legend and former Rugby Cranes international, as well as young talent in Betungura Bewatte who passed on in June and March respectively.

According to Kawowo Sports, both “were players with development outfit Sailors at the time of their unfortunate demise.”

Pirates will also celebrate the lives of two other comrades; Rujumba and Kaswabuli in what will be the eighth edition of the Rujumba Sevens which has been held since 2015 in honour of Henry Rujumba.

The circuit will be played over two days with the pool stage on day one (Saturday, September 3) and knockouts on day two (Sunday, September 4).

Heathens have ascended to the table of the National Sevens Series after winning the third circuit played on Saturday at the Greenlight Stadium in Arua.

Heathens beat Jinja Hippos 10-00 in the final, going the entire event unbeaten just like in the second circuit in Entebbe where they again beat the Jinja-based side in the final.

Joaquim Chisano and Malcom Daniel Okello scored unconverted tries earning Heathens victory in the West Nile region.

Heathens are now on 56 points, two clear of second-placed Black Pirates who have been leading in the opening two circuits.

Heathens faced Pirates twice in Arua and came atop in both the semifinal and group stage games. Lawrence Seebuliba ran the show in the semis scoring twice and was later named circuit MVP as he consistently crossed the whitewash throughout the event.

In their group stage game, Seebuliba ran in a hat-trick of tries as Heathens beat Pirates 24-00 in their group stage game. Chisano scored the other try while Chris Lubanga managed two conversions.

Meanwhile, to reach the finals, Hippos beat Impis 16-05.

Hippos are third on the series table with 51 points while Impis are fourth with 46 points.

Rams are fifth with 42 points, Buffaloes have dipped down to sixth place with 39 points while title holders Kobs are still struggling and are seventh with 30 points.

Warriors are eighth with 27 points while Walukuba Barbarians and Mongers both have 23 points but the latter is at the bottom of the 10-team core sides table.

The next circuit of the Nile Special 7s will be hosted by Pirates on 3rd-4th September.

Three more circuits will be played at Buhinga Stadium in Fort Portal, at Bugembe in Jinja, and finally at Kyadondo Rugby Club in Kampala.

Joacquim Chisano was the star of the show during the second circuit of the National Rugby Sevens as Heathens claimed glory in Entebbe.

Heathens beat Jinja Hippos 12-10 in the final with Chisano on the score sheet as yellow machine recovered from a try down to win at the Namate Works Playground.

He was later named circuit MVP and also emerged the top try scorer of the one-day event.

“It feels good to put up such a good performance but above all, I’m happy that the team won the circuit. We look forward to the next events of the series,” he said.

Hippos’ tries were scored by Denis Etwau who opened the scoring in the game, and Timothy Mugisha whose try in the last moment of the game if converted would have evened matters and forced extra time.

On the way to the finals, Heathens went through Black Pirates in the semis emerging 31-00 victors. The two sides had also faced off at the group stage level and the game ended 7-7.

Pirates finished fourth having lost to Buffaloes in the 3rd place playoff game.

Pirates still top of the standings with 37 points, three ahead of Heathens who are second with 34. Hippos and Buffaloes follow with 32 points each.

The series take a one week break and action returns on the 27th of August at the Greenlight Stadium in Arua.

Four more circuits will be played – at Kings Park Arena Bweyogerere in Wakiso, at Buhinga Stadium in Fort Portal, at Bugembe in Jinja, and final one will be played at Kyadondo Rugby Club in Kampala.

Uganda started its journey to the 2023 HSBC Sevens Series with mixed results on the opening day of the Challenger Series in Santiago, Chile.

The Rugby Cranes won one and lost the other at Estadio Santa Laura to finish day one in 3rd place.

In the opening match, Ian Munyani and Philip Wokorach (3) scored the tries as Uganda beat Uruguay 26-12 to get their campaign off to a strong start.

For a fifth time in a row, Germany got the better of Uganda, winning the game 17-14.

Uganda led twice at the start of each half, through tries by Timothy Kisiga and Aaron Ofoywroth. However, Jack Hunt was unstoppable at the wing as his hat trick of tries inspired Germany to victory.

Uganda takes on Lithuania in the last Pool game Saturday evening (6:04 pm, EAT) and needs to win for them to advance to the quarterfinals.