Pirates date Heathens in Uganda Cup semis

By Johnson Were

Nile Special Uganda Cup

Heathens 24 Sadolin Mongers 10 

D'Mark Kobs 50 Mutoni Warriors 6 

Buffaloes 41 Lira bulls 0 

G4S Pirates 16 Rhinos 10

Lower tier

Boks 10 Mbale Elephants 7

Impis 39 Gulu 3

Stallions 28 UCU 0

G4S Pirates coach Ham Onsando has got five days to correct what went wrong in the group stage games against Heathens and prove that the 23-19 defeat was just a mere fluke for the Kyadondo giants and that Pirates was the better side.

This is after both clubs won their quarter final fixtures on Saturday to set up a mouth-watering semi-final clash against next Saturday in the Nile Special Uganda Cup. 

Heathens defeated Sadolin Mongers 24-10 at Kyadondo while Pirates registered a 16-10 win over Ezee Money Rhinos at Legends Kampala rugby Club

“We played not so good but we have time to put right some few things ahead of the semi-final against Heathens,”Onsando said.

The other semi-final will be between the defending champions D’Mark Kobs and their bogey side Buffaloes who themselves are looking forward to revenge the heavy 18-0 defeat during the group stages.

Kobs defeated Mutoni Warriors 50-6 at Legends Kampala rugby club while Buffaloes whipped newly promoted Super 6 league side Lira Bulls 41-0 at Kyadondo Rugby Club.

Coach Fred Mudoola is optimistic victory will be his once the boys exert pressure on their opponents as exhibited in the quarter-final.

“We are putting our past win aside and also our past defeats to them to focus on next weekend’s game,” Mudoola stated, before praising his charges for putting on a good show.

Steven Ogwete managed a hat-trick of tries earning him the man of the match accolade, while teammate Justin Kimono managed two tries, Paul Barigye, Oscar Echulu and Joseph Aredo managed a try each while James Ijongat had a near-perfect foot with five conversions out of eight. 

Lady Referee wants Semi-final game

Female rugby referee Sauda Adiru did not only write history as the first female to handle the men’s 15s version elite category fixture as a centre referee, but also proved that women can successfully handle the men’s games.

This was after she successfully handled the Nile Special Uganda Cup quarter-final game between D’Mark Kobs and Mutoni Warriors that ended 50-6 at Legends Kampala Rugby Club on Saturday.

“It was a good game and I think it has given me the confidence to handle a semi-final if I’m assigned,” Adiru stated in an interview after the game.

“I have been handling school games, but my first game to handle in the super 8 teams was Rhinos against Mutoni Warriors in the group stages of this tournament and that is when my bosses saw that I had the ability to handle a strong game and there I was,” Adiru explained.

Adiru, 30, who started refereeing in 2010 added that she found it easy to officiate the elite category than the lower tier and schools category because the players in the former know the rules and when a referee makes a call they tend to dispute it.