Bweyogerere-based franchise of Black Pearls and Stanbic Black Pirates is in line for a double-double in the 2023 season for both women’s and men’s competitions.
Black Pearls won the Central Region women’s championship 2023 in March and Black Pirates clinched the Nile Special Rugby (Men’s) Premier League 2023 two months later in May.
Black pearls & Black Pirates Conquer XVs rugby
Now, all that’s left is for both teams to be crowned champions of the Nile Special 7s Series 2023 at the finale in Bugembe on September 2-3. But it is not straightforward yet as they are both still within catching distance of their title competitors.
So, as is the tradition in Ugandan sport, let’s pull out our calculators and do the mathematics to find out the minimum number of points Black Pearls and Black Pirates need to complete their respective season doubles.
Third place is enough for Black Pearls
To start with, only Black Pearls and Avengers can win the Women’s 2023 Series. This is because there are only four core teams in the competition and the points difference between the first (22 points) and fourth (15 points) ranks is only just seven. Thunderbirds and Nile Rapids are outside that range.
So, for Black Pearls to win the women’s 7s series, they only need to finish third during the Kyabazinga 7s. Regardless of where their challenger Avengers finish.
Reaching the Cup Semi-finals is more than enough for Black Pirates
In the men’s competition, only three teams can mathematically win the 7s series this year – Pirates, Heathens, and Kobs. Fourth-ranked Jinja Hippos are twenty-four points behind Pirates but the Cup winner collects twenty-two only.
I don’t believe in miracles. So when Heathens dropped to the Challenge Cup during Tooro 7s and the very next week, Kobs sent seven of their core players to the Uganda Men’s Sevens national team, I could clearly see that the title was Pirates’ to lose. Since then, Kobs have been on a downward spiral but somehow, Heathens have kept the title race alive.
Going into the series finale (Kyabazinga 7s), Pirates are eleven points ahead of Heathens and thirteen ahead of Kobs.
That means the worst case scenario for Pirates is losing the 5/6th place playoff. So, to avoid late drama and pressure, they can get the job done by just qualifying for the Cup Semi-finals.
Given how these two Kings Park teams have performed the entire series, only an act of God can stop Black Pearls and Black Pirates from popping the champagne at Bugembe on the evening of Sunday, September 3, 2023.
But sport is sport!
