Day One of the third circuit of the Nile Special Rugby Sevens Series 2023 has played its part in building up to an exciting knockout round.
There was a fair spread of clean sweeps, close calls, and major upsets across all pools in the men’s competition. And the women’s competition too.
In the very first match of this Rujumba 7s circuit, Impis landed in an ambush laid by their Makerere tenants Rams. Rams beat them 19-10 to blow Pool D wide open from the start. Stallions shook the status quo at Kyadondo by beating their seniors Buffaloes, 19-17, in Pool A.
Similarly, Avengers fought for a 15-10 victory against Thunderbirds.
Round Two proceeded as the bookmakers had predicted. The tighest result across the entire circuit was Heathens’ 20-12 victory over Rams in Pool D and the widest was Lady Cranes Probables’ 46-00 against Nile Rapids.
The action became spicy in Round Three as teams made their final shots for good seeding into the knockouts on Day Two.
Heathens needed a tie-breaker to defeat Impis, 17-12, and proceed as top seed from Pool D. But despite topping Pool A, Pirates were unable to overcome an inspired Buffaloes.
The 10-07 loss is the first time in this series that Pirates has tasted defeat, bringing to an end their fourteen-match winning streak.
If the script continues with this trend, it’s likely that there are more surprises awaiting in the knockout round on Day Two.
