Thunderbirds have gone on top of the Uganda Women’s Rugby Premiership, equal on points with their direct rivals, the Black Pearls, but ahead on points difference.
They secured this top spot at Kyadondo Rugby Club on Wednesday, with a thunderous 68-00 win against Jinja-based Nile Rapids, with fullback Samiya Ayikoru winning the player of the match accolade, in part due to her 4 tries, in a game where the National 15s captain Angella Nanyonjo scored a hat trick of tries..
But for Coach Kigongo Ssebalamu, this was not enough. He had some tough words for his kickers who missed 8 conversions on the day, including one where they simply ran out of time because they could not decide who amongst them should take the kick.
“On another day, those missed conversions can win you or cost you the game. Today, the kickers were low on confidence but we are going to work more with them,” Ssebalabu noted.
Another area of the game that the Thunderbirds’ gaffer wasn’t impressed with is the number of turnovers they conceded.
“We conceded 9 turnovers today. A tougher team would punish you,” Ssebalamu remarked, adding that this was a result of his team resorting to individual play, where the ball carriers found themselves isolated, instead of playing as a team.
Credit to the Nile Rapids who defended resolutely and with a lot of heart, despite lacking size in their ranks, a disadvantage that was clearly evident in the contact zones and the scrums. The Rapids also made deliberate efforts to kick and exit their danger zones, although they were brought back on most of those occasions by the Thunderbirds’ attack.
All these positives by the Rapids didn’t go unnoticed by Ssebalamu, who also serves within the Rugby 15s national women’s team set up. He was impressed by the growth in the women’s league but calls for more work to be done.
“We want to get to a level where games are intense across the league, where more teams compete with better players. Not two teams winning all the time. It is also a good thing to get to the final game week without knowing the winner of the league.”
He also adds that what shall set the winner apart from the runner-up come 17th May, shall be ‘which ever team wants it more’ after remarking that his team played like they didn’t want it despite the resounding win, hence gaining no momentum going into the final game of the season against the Black Pearls.