KOBs finally ended their seven-year wait to win a National 7s Circuit in Jinja by beating Rams 22-19 to lift the Kyabazinga 7s title.
In their last National 7s win in 2019 at the then Dam Waters in Jinja, the KOBs defeated the Black Pirates 28-19 to win the Jinja 7s and put themselves in the driving seat on the way to lifting the overall accolade.
This year, the Kyabazinga 7s win has brought the KOBs within 8 points of the leaders, the Heathens, before the 6th and final Stop, Coronation 7s.
Before the semifinal stage on Sunday, the Kyabazinga 7s men’s category had been won by the Hippos, Black Pirates, Heathens and Walukuba Barbarians in that order since 2022. After the KOBs beat the Pirates and the Rams defeated the Heathens, it was officially confirmed that the Kyabazinga 7s would have a new Men’s champion by the end of the day.
Unlike the KOBs, Rams had already secured a win in the 2026 National 7s series by lifting the Kyadondo 7s. The KOBs therefore had everything to play for as they went into the final.
However, those plans would quickly be dented by the Rams, who scored first in the left corner through Hosanna Opileni.
The KOBs then responded through Rasul Abiriga’s unconverted try for their last points of the half.
Rams continued the scoring in the first half through Yusuf Semakula and Bakali Muhoozi’s converted tries to give the KOBs a lot to think about at half time.
In the second half, the KOBs remained composed and stuck to their gameplay, which soon paid off. Josiah Ssempeke proved to be the difference as he scored next to the posts after skipping away from Ssemakula. The scorer soon turned provider as Ssempeke sent Shafic Okole away to the corner for KOBs next try to bring the score to 19-17 in favour of Rams.
The decisive try came from Rams’ own old boy, Brian Wandera, after the hooter had gone. At that moment, the Rams were left with 6 players on the pitch as Hashim Kabogoza had earlier been sent to the sin bin. In excitement, the KOBs didn’t bother attempting their conversion kick, as it was all over at that moment.
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