- Nile Special Stout Rugby Premier League – Matchday Five
- Result: Kobs 19-11 Heathens
Kobs Rugby Club have continued their flawless charge towards their first league title since 2016 with a victory against archrivals Heathens.
This was during the 10th anniversary of the Lions Cup – a match played between the two historic clubs – at Legends Rugby Grounds.
Both teams had a slow start to the game and were unable to get in behind their opponents’ lines of defense. As has been the trend all season so far, kicking accuracy was at an all-time low as attempts at splitting the uprights went begging.
However, James Ijongat and Joseph Oyet were able to get points on the board for their respective teams to conclude the first half at a 03-03 stalemate.
It was a balanced contest at the scrum and breakdown while Heathens dominated the lineouts throughout the match.
Rather surprisingly early on, the match turned into a battle for supremacy between James Ijongat and Innocent Gwokto. The two flyhalves played a kicking game in the first half, with contestable cross kicks aimed towards the wingers. In the second half, the strategy switched to playing the quick ball in order to attack against a retreating defense.
While Gwokto had an impressive outing in the position, it was Ijongat who won this key battle. The latter provided a try assist in the second half before kicking the drop goal that sealed the match for his team.
Kobs remain unbeaten and top of the log with 24 points while Heathens suffer their first defeat that drops them to fourth place with 19 points.
The result resets what was slowly turning into a two-horse race back to a title challenge between Kobs, Pirates and Heathens. Thus, with four matchdays to go, the league heads towards delivering one of the most unpredictable climaxes Uganda has seen in the recent past.