The Buffaloes have received a major boost with the return of Daniels Otim, Aaron Tukei and Fat Moses Watmon ahead of their Friday encounter against Impis.
The trio missed the first leg of the semifinal at the Makerere Graveyard through engagements with the National 7s team, but are now fully available and have been selected for the return leg.
In the regular season, Watmon kept Impis on their toes, while Otim came on as a late first half substitute and scored two tries in the second half.
“Even in their absence, the boys have been putting in a shift. We know that all of them have a lot of impact that they can bring onto the team, but based on what has been happening, we have the squad depth. It is good to have them back,” notes coach Charles Onen.
Onen and his charges are aware of the task ahead when they face an Impis team that came back from 11 points against KOBs.
“For us the weekend is going to be a big big game. We are one step away from the final and we’ve earned to be in this position, but we’ve not yet earned to get to the final,” remarked Onen.
The Buffaloes were the better team in the first leg, and Onen has hinted at some of the areas of the game where they plan on thriving. The breakdown contests and defence is something Onen hopes his players can align and win.
“We need to make sure we are clinical in our 22. Then we want our players to compose themselves when things get tough, because they’ve always found solutions to pull it off,” Onen adds.
At the back of their minds, the Buffaloes are approaching this game as a fresh fixture. They’ve decided to put their 9-point cushion aside and focus on the game at hand.
“We are approaching the game with a 00-00 mentality; we do not consider last weekend. We just have to come into this game as a 00-00, and let’s see how we pull it off,” Onen noted.