When the 2024 Nile Special Rugby Championship concludes at the end of May, only one team will have visited Jinja Hippos at Damwaters Rugby Club and left with a positive result. That team is Heathens. The result was a twenty-all in the third round back in February.
Everyone else, Hippos have beaten. That includes their latest and final victim this season, Black Pirates, during the first round of the Championship Playoffs Semifinals.
Pirates snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Literally. They had led by 24-10 at halftime but Hippos orchestrated an emphatic comeback to beat them by 28-27 points.
Both teams played with the handbrake on and the match was plagued with multiple handling errors. But there was a few exciting moments which sprung the fans in attendance onto their feet.
The visitors dominated the first half; scoring three tries through Ivan Magomu, Timothy Kisiga, and Paul Bagota. Magomu converted all three tries and also kicked a penalty. The hosts only scored one try, one conversion, and one penalty; all by Elvis Opira.
Then the tides changed in the second half and Hippos took firm control. They scored eighteen points while restricting Pirates to just one penalty (kicked by Magomu). Jacob Ochen and Bright Mukisa touched down and Opira added a conversion and two penalties.
Mukisa’s try was in the last play of the match as Hippos rewrote history. Until that point, Hippos had never beaten Pirates in a knockout match.
The victory stamped Damwaters Rugby Club’s status as a rugby fortress in Uganda. Nine matches hosted, eight won, one drawn, zero lost.
Hippos take a one-point advantage to Kings Park – another fortress in its own right – for the second round. The other semifinal, between Kobs and Heathens at Legends, ended 29-18 in favour of the latter.
The second round will be played next Saturday on May 18.
Nile Special Rugby Championship 2024 – Championship Playoffs Semifinals Round 2 Fixtures:
- (SF 1) Kyadondo: Heathens vs Kobs
- (SF 2) Kings Park: Pirates vs Hippos
All matches will kick off at 4 p.m. local time (EAT).
