15 November 2007: For the first time in the 14-year history of the Makerere Hima ten-a-side tournament in Kampala, Uganda, a foreign club lifted the main cup trophy.
Mvamba, this year’s Kenya sevens circuit winners, fielded a squad that included six regular IRB sevens players and put up a classy display to subdue MTN Heathens 15-5 in the main cup final played on a water-logged pitch.
Saturday November 3 had started under bright sunny skies in Kampala, but the rugby degenerated into a messy muddy affair on the Sunday when the skies opened.
Kenya was represented by five teams, notably a well-drilled Mwamba side and Nondies, and the players seemed to be using the tournament as a warm-up for upcoming IRB Sevens series.
Local favourites and defending champions UTL Kobs, who had topped group C on Day One with a 17-7 beating of Nondies, could not maintain their form on day two in the driving rain and water logged pitch and they were narrowly knocked out – 0:3 – of the main cup by local rivals MTN Heathens at the quarter final stage.
In the plate finals, UTL Kobs fought hard in what was arguably the game of the tournament but succumbed to a Nondies team inspired by Innocent Simiyu, an African Leopard.
MTN Heathens, the 2007 Uganda sevens champions, started the tournament slowly with scrappy wins over Entebbe Mongers and Cente Rhinos before losing 14-26 defeat to group seeds Mwamba RFC. However, they defeated UTL Kobs in a wet quarter-final and advanced to face an unpredictable G4S Pirates in the last four.
The semi-final turned out to be a one-sided affair, with the MTN Heathens winning 12-0 on their home ground.Mwamba defeated Nakuru in the semi-final, and continued to look a class apart as they advanced to the final.
The main sponsors – Hima cement, Citibank, Standard Chartered bank, Technology associates, G4S Pirates, AAR Health services, Makerere University, MTN and Rwenzori water – put up cash prices for the winning teams, which meant Mwamba walked away with a cash prize of about US$1,800, while runners up MTN Heathens were given US$860 as a consolation.
Next year, Tanzania are expected to join the Kenyan and Rwandese clubs that have religiously competed over the past years. There is also talk that sponsors Hima Cement will be flying in a South African University side for next year’s edition.
Individual Awards – MVP: Robert Seguya(MTN Heathens); Top scorer: Collins Injera(Mwamba-Kenya); Best Fly half: Edmond Tumusiime(UTL Kobs); Best defensive player: Mathias Ochwo(MTN Heathens); Best converter: Anthony Kinene(G4S Pirates); Smartest Team: Hima Impis; Best Manager: Rwanda Team Manager
Results – FINAL: Mwamba 15 MTN Heathens 5; PLATE FINAL: Nondies 15 UTL Kobs 10; BOWL FINAL: Cente Rhinos 8 Strathmore University 5; SHIELD FINAL Buffaloes 10 Entebbe Mongers 7.