Uganda Cup: KOBs register biggest win of Week 2 in under 50 minutes

After the frustration of travelling all the way to Jinja to play the Kakira Simbas on Game Day 1 of the Uganda Cup, and only walking away with a walkover, the KOBs made sure they played some rugby on Game Day 2. Heading to Fort Portal, the target was clear for the KOBs: to win with a bonus point. That, they managed to do, despite a few hiccups. “We started late, we had only 50 minutes. We started a bit sluggish since we hadn’t yet played any game, but the boys woke up and we got 5 tries in the first half,” noted the campaign captain, Simon Makumbi. Makumbi put in a Man of the Match performance, scoring a hat-trick of tries in the first half, and adding a 4th try in the second half. With the half-time score at 45-0 for the Kampala Old Boys after a slow start, the plan was to up the tempo after the break. “In the second half, everyone got hungrier, although we didn’t have enough time to execute what we wanted to execute, but everything worked. We went with a game plan that actually worked for us; the forwards made their carries and the boys from the 7s came and showed a lot of skill,” said Makumbi. For two consecutive game days, the KOBs have travelled with a 22-man squad, despite the regulations providing for up to 23 game-day players. Although this is unusual for a club of KOBs’ standing, there is a perfect explanation. “We are having University 7s games happening, which has affected us so much. We have also had some injuries, so most of our players on the 60-man squad are not available,” Makumbi noted. Some of the KOBs players not available due to the University 7s include the halfback pairing of Stuart Mwayi and Calvin Gizamba, who turned out for Victoria University last Sunday. The unavailability of some key players has come as a blessing in disguise for some fringe players and the youngsters, who have impressed the experienced Makumbi “The youngsters are crazy, they are very hungry actually. After that 7s campaign, which I won’t call the best campaign, the youngsters now know what it means to play for KOBs.” One of the youngsters who stood up in Fort Portal is Jaffar Abdullah, who scored a hat-trick on the day, while Ibrahim Khemis was the top scorer of the weekend, scoring 10 conversions and adding a try to his name. The Fort Portal Tyrants did not go home empty-handed. Amid Mugume slotted home a penalty for the hosts’ only points of the day. The game ended 102-03 for the KOBs.