Walukuba Barbarians fight back to defeat Jinja Hippos in derby thriller

Youngster Arafat Lubega and captain Gift Wokorach delivered memorable performances, inspiring Walukuba Barbarians to a come-from-behind 34-19 victory over local rivals Jinja Hippos in a heated Jinja derby on Saturday.

The National Rugby Premier League clash, played at Dam Waters Playground in Jinja, saw the visitors recover from a 15-19 halftime deficit to secure a dominant win.

The home side, Jinja Hippos, were caught napping in the early stages of the match. A penalty and conversion from Gift Wokorach, along with an early try from Alfred Ssekyanzi, gave the visitors a shocking 0-10 lead.

However, the home side mounted a speedy response through a try from Alfred Alwanga, followed by captain Maxwell Ebonga's conversion to make it 7-10.

Hippos then produced a more impressive display, building a respectable 19-10 lead in front of their vocal fans, thanks to tries from Brian Luseke and Andrew Okello, as well as a conversion from Ebonga.

But the visitors had other ideas, with a late first-half try from Bob Kawanda narrowing the gap to 15-19 before the break.

Walukuba Barbarians coach Leonard Lubambula appeared to deliver a positive halftime talk that saw his side return with high spirits. Their second-half display was arguably the best by any visiting side at Dam Waters Playground this season. Solid defending, relentless attacks, and speedy ball recovery were the order of the day, as Jinja Hippos failed to add a single point after the interval.

Walukuba sealed the game with tries from Arafat Lubega (two), Bob Kawanda, and Mathew Oluka, along with two conversions from captain Gift Wokorach. The emphatic victory was marred late in the match when Jinja Hippos coach Edmond Quaresma was sent off for dissent as his team recorded their third home loss of the season.

"I thought there was a bit of inconsistency in officiation. It's a derby, and so many proper fouls committed against us were not called, and that annoyed us a lot. Factors still remain that we had a massive exodus and that we are still struggling to find the right patterns from the new players we have brought in," said a visibly dejected Quaresma.

"We have been losing by one or two points in our last losses, but during the halftime talk, I told my players to give their all in this derby, which they did. However, we have to work on the discipline of high tackles that we have been penalized for," said Walukuka Barbarians coach Leonard Lubambula.

Both teams have so far registered two league wins this season.