It has been a start-stop affair in the second tier of Ugandan rugby. Whereas the Central Conference wrapped up its season on April 13, the Northern Conference has only concluded its business as late as last week, on May 17.
According to the Uganda Rugby Union calendar, these national promotional playoffs should have been held in the month of May, but now, if everything is to go according to plan, June 7th is the conclusion date.
The four regional champions are going to face off across three game days, in a round robin competition that is meant to determine which two teams are promoted to the top flight. The teams in contention, Gulu City Falcons, Kakira Simbas and KIU Crows, have the opportunity to play in the Uganda Rugby Premiership for the first time in their history, while Makerere Impis shall be looking to regain past glory.
The silver lining in the delay is that teams like Impis have had more than a month of preparation for the playoffs.
“The long delay has been a big positive on our end, it has been a blessing. We have been in position to clear out some of the errors we made throughout the season, we have worked on conditioning ourselves better for the playoffs. I feel like the team is in a much better condition now, than when we played the final,” coach Alvin Nkamba remarked.
The competition starts this Saturday, 24th May, with the Impis going West to face the KIU Crows while the Gulu City Falcons make the trip to the East to face the Kakira Simbas.
Below are the full fixtures of the national promotional playoffs;
Saturday, 24th May
- KIU Crows Vs Makerere Impis – Ishaka
- Kakira Simbas Vs Gulu City Falcons – Kakira
Saturday, 31st May
- Makerere Impis Vs Kakira Simbas – Makerere Graveyard
- Gulu City Falcons Vs KIU Crows – Gulu
Saturday, 7th June
- Gulu City Falcons Vs Makerere Impis – Gulu
- KIU Crows Vs Kakira Simbas – Ishaka