The Walukuba Barbarians are still feeling the hangover of winning the National 7s series. The Jinja boys have barely shown up in the Uganda Cup, losing two games so far and, in one instance, actually not showing up at all to play the Kigezi Silverbacks in Kabale.
This poor performance has, however, been deliberate as the Barbarians are taking a break, giving their youngsters, the Walukuba Trojans, some valuable playing time and generally checking their systems as an organization.
“There is really not much we would like to achieve out of the Uganda Cup, we just want the Tight 5 and the Trojans to have a feel of the game,” noted coach Leonard Lubambula at the beginning of the campaign.
In the huge loss against the Black Pirates, the most notable 7s champions to play were Ahmad Ssekyanzi and Fahad Muzige, a deliberate move by the Walukuba coaching staff.
“The 18 players who have been involved in the National 7s series will not participate in the Uganda Cup. We want to give them a good rest as they prepare for a good preseason in December,” remarked Coach Lubambula.
The Pirates now have 3 wins in 3 games, recording their second-highest score of the campaign in a 98 – 10 victory.
The consolation points for the Barbarians came from Baluku Faisal’s try, which was converted by Mawanda Timothy, who also added a penalty kick.
Roy Bartholomew Kizito was the man of the match, scoring 4 tries and 1 conversion.