The good, bad and ugly of Super 8 Rugby League

Kampala- Behind all the glamour there is always going to be some gloom.
Despite the league closing successfully, it still has some loopholes that are holding back its development and Ugandan rugby in general. The entire 14 Game Weeks were full of spectacular performances as well as unacceptable moments and infamous events.

We take time to review the positives and negatives of the Nile Special Super 8 Rugby Premiership.

Birth of new stars
The campaign was a tale of rookies imposing themselves as game changers for their respective teams. Majority of the rugby fraternity believe our rugby needs fresh blood especially when it comes to the Rugby Cranes, therefore the development of new talent is evidence that we are heading in the right direction. Some notable newcomers include Ramathan Govule of champions DMark Kobs, who surely must have caught the eyes of the national selectors.

Other youngsters, who raised the bar, include Isaac Rujumba (G4S Pirates), Kevin Kermundu (Toyota Buffaloes), Adrian Kasiita (DMark Kobs), James Odongo (Toyota Buffaloes) and Derrick Tukwatsiibwe (MTN Heathens) among others.

Fiery mid-table battle
The season was full of thrills especially from the mid table teams. We saw Sadolin Entebbe Mongers claim a famous 10-5 win against Heathens that duly ended the latter’s title campaign.

Rubbers between mid-table outfits G4S Pirates, Ezee Money Rhinos, Mongers and Mutoni Warriors were a behold to watch and unpredictable. Most of the high-intensity games involved this quartet as they are balanced in terms of strength.
With Lira Bulls’ fate as relegation candidates known, it was always hard to pick out the second-best team from the bottom of the log.

NTV comes on board
With the game still being played by small numbers and more so understood by only a few across the country, NTV’s three-year deal Uganda Rugby Union (URU) came as a blessing to the game.

The timing couldn’t have been any better. And when they telecast live their first match, it was the biggest local derby between Heathens and Kobs.
It was tense, action-packed and exciting. No one could afford a wink. The NTV production crew nailed it further with crystal clear images and knowledgeable commentators in David Mutaka and Adrian Bukenya, both former Rugby Cranes internationals, who kept the fans up to speed with the happenings at Kyadondo.

It was such a big success for NTV on their first day in the field and the rubber nicked by Kobs 14-13 was a perfect advert for the game in Uganda.
One that will get many other corporate companies jumping at the opportunity of chipping in to rugby development.

The Shs1.86b deal also includes a weekly magazine programme that has already taken shape and runs every Saturday between 12.30pm and 1pm under the name ‘Ruck N’ Roll’.
For the rugby faithful, their stars have been brought closer and more converts of the game are being won over slowly but surely.

Poor officiating
This is an eternal problem for every sport all over the world. But although it is expected a referee is only human and bound to err, some of the local rugby referees’ standards have hit the lowest ebb.

Poor refereeing has been the order of the day for as long as any rugby fan can recall.
Each Game Week had teams partly blame the match officials for exhibiting farcical standards.

Many clubs have actually requested the union to fly in international referees for some of their season-determining games.

Even the introduction of Walkie Talkies for communication between the touch judges and the center referee seems to have brought more confusion instead.
May be URU sending more referees to South Africa for refresher courses could help avert the situation as justified by the case of an improved Daniel Adilo.

Walkover scenarios
It’s so sad that in this era we still have walkovers in a national league. Good thing is that they are reducing. A case in point this season was in Lira when the Bulls hosted Toyota Buffaloes.

The hosts failed to provide medical cover in terms of a fully-equipped ambulance and lost their match without the visitors having to take the field. During the return leg fixture amongst the two sides, the devil was present again as Buffaloes almost gifted the Bulls their first maximum points of the campaign.
Buffaloes could only get the ambulance at Kyadondo RFC almost half way the game and must thank their gods as the Bulls were sensible enough not to push for a restart of the game.
Ambulances at all games are a must and not a luxury, may be the union should devise a way of making clubs pay upfront for medical cover as part of their annual subscription fees so that medical cover at games is a responsibility of the union.

Super Six Saga
There is a brewing idea of the league being cut down to six teams.
Mind boggling, isn’t it? Too many, if eight teams are not even enough for the top tier, then six would be an injustice to the beautiful game.

A league of six teams comes with multiple constraints. Less games, lack of varying competition, players don’t get enough match fitness and conditioning to prepare them for international season.

If the rumours doing rounds at every gathering involving rugby players and fans in Uganda hold any water, then Mutoni Warriors and Lira Bulls have already been relegated – something they weren’t aware of as the league climaxed a fortnight ago.

Championship winners Xfm Impis will face sixth-place finishers Mongers for a place in the Super Six today.

Season MVP debate
Is it necessary? The Daily Monitor Sports Desk doesn’t think so. Many players have showed exceptional acts but only one of them can go home with this accolade that is the envy of many.

This season’s league MVP is an easy pick because he dared to dream differently and his performances were miles ahead of the pack.

This award belongs to none other than Oscar Kalyango. The DMark Kobs center had a stellar season being named man of the match on at least seven occasions.

The Makerere College alumni has developed into the ideal center and hardly put any foot wrong.

Against arguably the best center in the land, Kalyango forced Heathens’ Michael Wokorach to play second fiddle at every meeting.

Such was the season, hopefully URU’s post season report card will make similar reading to ours so that the wrongs can be rectified and the game can continue to grow in leaps and bounds.

SCORE’S TEAM OF THE SEASON>
1. Timothy Kabonero (DMark Kobs)

2. Cyrus Wathum (Kobs)

3. Brian Odong (Kobs)

4. Romano Ogwal (MTN Heathens)

5. Ramathan Govule (Kobs)

6. Ronald Musajjagulanyago (Kobs)

7. Roland Bahendeka (Heathens)

8. Scot Oluoch (Kobs)

9. Davis Kiwalabye (Kobs)

10. Ivan Magomu. (G4S Pirates)

11. Eric Kasiita (Toyota Buffaloes)

12. Alfred Bijik (Buffaloes)

13. Oscar Kalyango (Kobs)

14. Justin Kimono (Kobs)

15. James Odongo (Buffaloes)