For the first time during the 2021 Guinness Sevens Series, the Most Valuable Player’s award has been won by a player not from the circuit-winning team.
Jinja Hippos’ playmaker Timothy Mugisha shone brightest during the penultimate round of the series played at the high-altitude Kabale Main Stadium in Kabale City.
The humble dreadlocked back with a deceptively-quick running style scored 2 tries and provided 3 assists to inspire the Hippos to a fourth-place finish ahead of closest best-of-the-rest challenger Buffaloes.
Mugisha made the right decisions at the right time as a playmaker for Jinja Hippos. He completed 3 linebreaks on the day, and when the opposition read his movement, he pulled off 5 offloads in the contact area. As a leader, he stepped up during the knockout phase in the absence of captain Denis Etwau by taking over kicking duties and slotting 4 conversions through the uprights.
But his performance wasn’t all about putting points on the board. Mugisha put in the work on defense too, completing 78.6% of his 14 attempted tackles, one of the best on the day. Watching Jinja Hippos play, you were sure to notice him playing support tackler, contesting at the breakdown and chasing down opposition speedsters on the break.
In being not only one of Jinja Hippos’ but the entire series’ most consistent top performers, Mugisha finally got rewarded for his skills, and expression of the said skills.
The reward came with a UGX 250,000 cash prize from series sponsor Century Bottling Limited Uganda, and a generous celebratory shower with the beverage by his Hippos teammates.
