With the arrogance of Impis rugby club, what is coming out of their camp.
Following their match-day one 44-15 victory over the Warriors, Impis, who just returned to the top flight after a year in the second tier of Ugandan rugby, are top of the Nile Special Rugby Premiership table.
In fact, wherever they have gone to celebrate that statement victory, which suggests that it is unlikely the Warriors survive the drop at the end of this season, Impis have ordered deejays to play only one song: Lonely at the top by Asake.
Well, Impis may not be so lonely at the top for long, after all. They face the record 16-time champions, Heathens this weekend at the Graveyard in Makerere. However, aside from Impis (the 1996 league champions), who take pride in arrogance, match-day one served what was arguably the biggest game on the calendar between the defending champions, the Stanbic Black Pirates and the KCB Kobs at the King’s Park arena in Bweyogerere last Saturday, February 7.
It left one inevitable question on many rugby fans as to whether the final of the league, slated for June, did not play out last Saturday on match-day one? For what it is worth, the 26-24 victory that Pirates secured was a landmark win.
But it also showed just how tough Kobs are going to be this season. Compared to last season, when Kobs lost its opener to the Rhinos 11-13, the team look more robust. For a host of Kobs’ youthful players that were largely introduced to top-flight rugby last year, they have gained immense experience, a reason they make life difficult to Pirates.
While Pirates, the three-time league champions are the favourites, their coach Marvin Odongo acknowledged that it would be exciting to meet Kobs again in a final.
“I think it would be a great game just like our recent meetings have been, You see, Kobs have a number of youth, who bring a lot of energy to their side. But at the same time, they have bundles of experienced charges therein. They are a difficult opponent,” Odongo said.
Looking back at the last three games in which these sides have met, it has been a case of two halves. Just like the tie last weekend, Pirates seemed like they were stream-rolling Kobs in the first half.
But only for the 13-time champions to come guns blazing in the second half. It was the case in the Uganda Cup semi-final on November 27. It also happened in the league last year at Legends.
Kobs were trailing Pirates by over 10 points at the break, only for them to turn it around in the second half, before a delightful drop goal by Josiah Ssempeke clinched it for the Kobs. In light of that Odongo said that his side has been caught napping on several occasions during clashes with Kobs.
Odongo added: “Obviously, we had a brilliant first half. Our set plays were fantastic. But we keep getting complacent when we create a big lead. Yet, we know it is not over until it is especially against a side like Kobs. We are going to work to iron those mistakes out in order to make sure we defend our title.”
On the other hand, Kobs coach Brian Makalama, who was parachuted into the job at real short notice from the Entebbe Mongers, was happy about the character his side showed.
The never say die attitude showed him that they are ready for the fight and are in this for the long haul. The energy showed by the likes of Darrell Mwaka, Benjamin Muwanguzi and definitely Simon Makumbi is refreshing.
In fact, when one considers that last year’s losing league finalists, Jinja Hippos are a shell of their old selves; they lost 17- 40 to Buffaloes on the weekend, and the fact that Heathens are rebuilding, too, Kobs and Pirates look to have the real ‘arrogance’ to consider themselves champions of 2026!
