Tooro 7s: Tooro Rugby, KOBs win big as Jinja Hippos go top of the log
This weekend, the King of Tooro, Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi the IV, pledged the Kingdom’s financial support to all Tooro community-based rugby teams as he met the Uganda Rugby 7s National Team that won the Bowl Championship at the just-concluded Rugby World Cup 7s in South Africa.
This weekend, a sizeable chunk of the Ugandan rugby community flocked the scenic Fort Portal tourism city for the Tooro 7s at Buhinga stadium, with 12 teams, including organisers Tooro Lions, facing off for the 5th Circuit of the 2022 National Rugby 7s Championship.
As the games proceeded at the Stadium, a meeting with King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi the IV for a contingent of the Rugby World Cup 7s Bowl Championship-winning National Rugby Cranes 7s happened at his Karuzika palace.
Part of the contingent was Uganda Rugby Union president Godwin Kayangwe, National Rugby Cranes 7s Head Coach Tolbert Onyango, Captain Micheal Wokorach, players, and sponsors, among others, all with the combined effort to garner kingdom support towards the growth of the game.
“We shared with the King that we are [in Tooro], we are playing Rugby, and we need the support of the Kingdom, which he pledged to give us,” said Godwin Kayangwe after the meeting.
National Rugby 7s Captain, Micheal Wokorach, added, “It has been a good meeting; the King advised us, and we could see he is passionate about sports and he is willing to grow Rugby in the region.”
Norah Traton Nyangoma, the Tooro Lions Rugby Club Head Coach, revealed to the king challenges hindering the game’s growth in his Kingdom, key among which is the lack of a rugby facility.
“We need a [piece of] land where we can put our facility as rugby players because [that] is what is holding the game behind,” Nyangoma shared.
Upon this background, King Oyo pledged financial support to all community-based teams as a move to promote the present talents in the Kingdom.
King Oyo also tasked the team leaders to submit a report on the game in the Kingdom to inform the areas of assistance.
Following the meeting, the contingent joined the rest of the travelling Ugandan rugby community at Buhinga stadium for what turned out to be a day of upsets.
From shock results for the Pirates in the Pool stages to a quarter-finals exit for then-table leaders Heathens, the Rugby 7s circuits debut in Fort Portal will be a memorable one for all.
The Kampala Old Boys Rugby Club, commonly known as KOBs, took the day, scoring at the death to win 10-7 against a very unlucky Jinja Hippos side who had overcome a poor start to the day to almost nicking their first circuit of the season.
The Jinja Hippos’ consistency this season, making 4 of the 5 circuit finals this year, sees them go top of the table, displacing Heathens to second spot by 2 points.
Up next is the Kyabazinga 7s set to be hosted by the Walukuba Barbarians at Bugembe Stadium on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th September 2022, before the Grand Finale Buffaloes 7s to be hosted by Buffaloes RFC at Kyadondo Rugby Grounds on the weekend of 15th and 16th October 2022.
