The 2019 Roke National Seven’s Circuit.

Overall circuit Most Valuable Player Pius Ogena.

The Betway Kobs lift the overall winners trophy.

Betway Kobs Seven's captain James Aredo receives a cash present from the Mr. Innocent Ojanji, the Hippos Chairman in Jinja.

The Betway Kobs were crowned as the 2019 overall winners. The 7 legs circuit was a race between only 2 clubs; Betway Kobs and Stanbic Pirates. The other teams were too far off the pace this year. There were interesting match ups but no other team beat either Kobs or Pirates. A very worrying trend.

The Hippos from Jinja and the Hima Cement Heathens probably came closest to disrupting what became the order of Kobs and Pirates meeting in all the 7 finals. It looked like it was something beyond others to play in the finals. The Hippos could have done much better especially considering that they never got disrupted by the Rugby Cranes preparations and Continental duties. The Hippos are ever promising and they will be a tougher team to beat next year.

The 2019 Seven’s Circuit started with the Toyota Buffaloes hosting at Kyadondo ‪on 25th‬ ‪May‬, the only leg played there this year. The Kobs ran away with the Cup after a pulsating final against the Pirates. The next leg was at the new Masaka Rugby Club hosted by Buddu RFC ‪on 1st June‬. The sea robbers took this one away and this was to up the tempo for the 3rd leg; The Henry Rujumba Memorial 7s hosted by the Pirates ‪on 15th June‬ at the Kings Park, Bweyogerere. The Kobs won it.

The 4th leg was hosted by the Warriors and held in honour of Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Mileke on 6th July. It was named the Mileke Sevens and hosted at Legends. The Kobs won this one (beating Pirates 25-05 in the finals) and opened a small 6 point gap over Pirates. The Coronation Cup came up next hosted by Shell Rimula Rhinos and Legends on 20th July. The Coronation Cup was in its 2 year running for the clubs and didn’t disappoint. The event was graced by Prince Wassajja of Buganda as the main guest. The Pirates won it. The gap at the top was now 3 points.

Leg 6 was meant to be held in Mbale but some communication breakdown led to it being cancelled with all teams assembled on the grounds. The fans who had travelled for the tournament seem to have made the biggest losses or maybe not. There are those who point at Mbale Elephants as being the biggest losers. Some of Mbale Elephants' officials got suspended from the game for 2 years.

So the 6th leg was hosted by the Hippos at the Dam Waters grounds in Jinjaon 17th August. The rained out tournament was won by Kobs. This effectively sealed the 2019 Series for Kobs. The only way they could be denied was by ensuring they do not reach the semis of the last leg. The Prestigious Edward Kitaka Memorial 7s was up next hosted by the Betway Kobs and Legends 24th August. The Pirates won the final but Kobs got the overall title.

Kobs won a total of 4 legs to Pirates 3. The depth of the Kobs club has greatly improved from last year and surpassed many and that is largely the reason they won the 2019 Circuit. Pirates had boosted a better team last year. The dynamics of the Rugby Cranes were felt more at Kobs than Pirates with the Kobs missing 5 players to Pirates 2 for the last leg.

Pius Ogena of the Betway Kobs was named the overall MVP despite not having played all the legs. Other honourable mentions are Joseph Aredo (Kobs), Timothy Odong (Pirates) and Desire Ayera (Pirates).

The 2020 Sevens Circuit should be bigger and we should see a return to the 2 days tournament for 16 teams per circuit. Uganda Sevens is a huge promise and the clubs might start approaching the whole competition professionally. The competitiveness will improve and the URU has slightly over 8 months before the next campaign kicks off. The prize monies can definitely improve.

Rugby is expanding and it will cost more to get better quality from the clubs. The overall winners of the Kenya Sevens Circuit will walk away with over Ushs. 18 million. The Betway Kobs got less than Ushs 2mn as the overall Champions. Each host club in Kenya was given Kshs 1.4 million to help in the preparations; our local clubs were each given less than Ushs 4million. Over to the Uganda Rugby

We thank the Uganda Rugby Union and the entire rugby fraternity for the excellent 7s tournaments played this season.

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