As the Uganda Cup pool phase gets to its completion, some teams have already booked their slots in the quarterfinals, while others have already packed their bags.
Buffaloes are one of the sides that have completed all four group games, registering a loss and three wins, the latest being a 105-06 win over the Fort Portal Tyrants at Kyadondo Rugby Grounds on Saturday.
What was meant to be a routine win for the Buffaloes started off slow, with the game remaining scoreless for the opening 12 minutes.
After numerous visits to the Tyrants’ 22, the Buffaloes finally broke the deadlock through a Meddy Abdullah try in the right corner, but the conversion wasn’t good. Tries from Fat Moses Watmon and Moses Olweny opened the floodgates, proving what everyone was thinking: that it would be a long day for the Tyrants.
“We started very slow, maybe because of nerves, but also we had started playing to the opponent’s game plan. The moment we resorted to playing our structure, things started working out,” noted Joseph Teko, the Buffaloes captain.
Tries from scrumhalf Arnold Musaazi and Abdullah were not enough to mask the handling errors by the Buffaloes in the first half. Lucky for them, they dominated the resulting scrums and regained possession. Additionally, the Buffaloes also dominated the lineouts, with Teko rising and plucking Tyrants’ throws from the sky.
The bulk of the points were scored in the second half, with the Tyrants managing 6 points from penalties. The boys from Fort Portal stayed positive in the face of heavy defeat.
“We have been very fortunate to perform on such a great stage. It is also very insightful to see how other people are working within their structures so that we can pick a leaf,” remarked Lucky Evans Nganda, who is the team captain and player-coach.
Although the Tyrants can no longer make it to the knockout stages, they promise to bow out of the Uganda Cup with a bang.
“We are out, yes, but we still have Kakira Simbas. We have been collecting a lot of anger from all the previous losses. Kakira is going to get a test of our medicine,” promised Captain Nganda, who returned to Fort Portal a battered but contented man.