By the time the sun sets on the King’s Park Arena in Bweyogerere on Saturday, May 10, the Nile Special Rugby Premiership trophy will either have the name of Stanbic Black Pirates inscribed on it for a third time, or the Jinja Hippos for the first time.
The two sides clash for the second time this season in a title decider. The Jinja Hippos’ journey to this year’s final in the Nile Special rugby premiership has been both a fairytale and dramatic.
First, in the build-up to the season, their director of rugby, Tim Glover said that they were winning the league this time. But during the quarter-finals, some administrative wrangles about the club ownership ensued, threatening to derail the campaign.
Yet, the Hippos overcame it and followed that up with a 49-47 aggregate win after two legs over the 13-time champions, the KCB Kobs. While the Hippos had lost the first leg of that semifinal 23-25 at home, they scored a last-minute try through their fly-half, Aziz Bagalana to vanquish the Kobs, sending their travelling fans into wild and teary celebrations at the Legends in Lugogo on Friday, May 2.
For Hippos, this is an opportunity to win their first league title in 15s rugby. Were this to happen, they would be the first upcountry team to do it. At the same time, they would join an exclusive class of title winners that includes Heathens (17), Pirates (2) and Impis (1).
However, both Pirates and Hippos have several similarities and differences. But the one common denominator they have is flanker, Isaac Rujumba. Back in 2018, Rujumba helped Pirates win their first-ever championship, after playing perennial bridesmaids to Heathens and Kobs for a very long time.
Yet, now, Rujumba is turning out for Hippos, determined to help the side to a first title. Does he carry the winning charm? During the semifinal second leg against Kobs, Rujumba committed an illegality in rugby, which is slapping the ball away, to deny the hosts what would have been a try.
The outcome had to be a yellow card, which would have seen him sit out the last ten minutes of the game. While Kobs were rewarded with a penalty-try by referee Umar Balikanda, which is seven points, that tied the game 22-22, it meant that the Hippos were out at the time. On aggregate, Kobs led 47-45 then.
But Hippos had to receive further punishment by having Rujumba yellow-carded, although, because of the melee during the run towards the try-line, the referees were not sure of the identity of the player that had slapped the ball away.
In such circumstances, as was the case, they called the Hippos captain, a tight-head prop, Fahad Maidoo to tell them which one of his players committed the infringement. Failure to do that, Maidoo would be the one to take the fall for it.
But at that point, Hippos could not play without a prop, seeing how much they dominated Kobs in the scrummaging. Yet again, at the height of it all, the Hippos could not afford to be without Rujumba, because of his ball-carrying ability, and unwavering energy levels to run across the field.
So, Maidoo, clever as he is, chose to hand over his full-back, Bruno Kisuule, for the sin-bin. This paid off handsomely for Hippos, as their scrummaging, which involved Rujumba, near Kobs’ try-line, produced the last gasp winning try. It is a moment that Rujumba looks back on with great admiration for his captain’s intelligence.
This is a moment that decided whether they would be in this weekend’s final or not. Now, more than ever, it has provided Rujumba with a chance to help his side win a first 15s title.
“Our focus since the beginning of the year has been to win the league. We now have to give it everything to get over the finish line,” Rujumba said.
But Rujumba is not oblivious to the fact that in the regular season, they lost to Pirates 10-38 at the same venue this weekend’s final is slated to be. Notably, in 2022, Rujumba helped Hippos to their first sevens title. Against that, Pirates’ Conrad Wanyama, who is Rujumba’s close friend, said that he knows how infectious Rujumba’s energy is.
“Having played with him since 2014 at Pirates, I know how hard-working he is as a player. He lifts those around him,” Wanyama said.
As a result, Wanyama noted that Rujumba’s spirit is proof of how tough an opponent Hippos are. Based on that, Wanyama, who acknowledged that despite overcoming the beast that Heathens are 42-31 on aggregate, as a team they have got renewed perspective on how there are no easy opponents.
For what it is worth, Wanyama does not think the regular-season win over Hippos matters in this case. But as Rujumba seeks to aid Hippos win a first championship, Wanyama’s focus is on helping his new teammate, Eliphaz Emong win a first championship. He joined Pirates from Hippos at the beginning of this year for that alone!
