Barbarians stomp on everything for Kigezi 7s title

KABALE | The Barbarians from Jinja were in no mood for decency, except that theirs was a sporting indecency - if overrunning your opponents can be described as such.

The Walukuba Barbarians beat cross-city elders Jinja Hippos 22-12 in the final of the Kigezi High Altitude Rugby 7s tournament in Kabale stadium at the weekend.

The victory for the Barbarians sent a clear message of their intent to compete with the big boys in the National 7s later in August, having eliminated Buffaloes and Kobs in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively.

The event organised by Rams Rugby Club alongside Guinness featured 10 men’s and five women teams from Uganda, Rwanda and DR Congo.

Jinja Hippos had earlier stopped defending champions Lifeguard Rams in the semifinal, with the latter finishing third and driving back to Kampala with the top scorers' and MVP accolades in Hossana Opelleni and Edrine Obbo, respectively.

The Babarians captain Ruben Kagwesagye credited unity among players for their triumph.

“I am happy to win this tournament and it was because my team was united especially during our training,” Kagwesagye said.

Eric Mpora, chairman organising committee, said this is an annual tournament which bring East African teams together.

“This is an annual tournament which involves East African teams and the reason why we called it the Kigezi High Altitude 7s tournament is because of the weather conditions," he said.

"The reason we have many East African teams is because they all share the same physical features."