The Nile Special Rugby Premier League is finally coming to a conclusion, as game week 18 of the season is this coming Saturday, May 13th, 2023.
The season tipped off on January 14, 2023, and anyone can surely testify that this has been an impressive season as no team has stepped out unbeaten in the league, which shows how competitive and developing the league has become over the years.
The season comprised ten teams, and these include the Platinum Credit Heathens, Black Pirates, Kobs, Impis, Rhinos, Jinja Hippos, Rams, Mongers, Buffaloes, and Walukuba Barbarians.
With the league ending on Saturday, a huge fixture comes your way as Kobs host Pirates in a game that could be the title decider of the season.
Speaking to some key player he stated “As a team we are mentally ready and of course we have to do everything possible to win this title” ~ Josiah sempeke
The season started with all players having equal form and the Heathens registering their first loss of the season when they visited King’s Park Arena as pirates thumped them in a closely contested encounter.
The loss, however, did not mean at that point that the season was far from over for them, as they still kept it high and even stayed in the top three of the league.
In the early days of the season, Impis as well came up and showed impressive play as they registered 5 in 5 wins as they had the fans’ hype and hope that they would be in the top 4 as the competition intensified, and most interesting was their beating Jinja Hippos at the beginning of the season as they visited the Hippos in Jinja.
This all came to an end when they visited the heathens at Kyadondo and were given a share of character development.
As we talk of competition and stepping up, we cannot forget to give a mention to the Walukuba Barberians, who came into the league and everyone looked at them as the underdogs, though they had an impressive season and registered a number of wins.
With all that, in this season about to conclude, some players who have remained outstanding are worth the praise; talk of Pius Ogena of the Kobs, who has so far registered 22 tries and has stepped up to equal the most tries recorded.
Puis ogena since then has matched the records of Allan Musoke and Justine Kimono with his number of tries in one single season.
In a competitive league, some stand out, and that’s why Scott Oluoch stepped up with 12 tries so far this season, and he is level with Tawfik Bagalana, who also has 12 tries to his name.
Lawrence Ssebuliba, who put on an impressive show against the Mingers on game day 17, also comes up with 11 tries, and Sydney Gongodyo has 10.
The league as well has had players who have registered many points for their teams, and among these are Ivan Magomu leading with 136, Joseph Aredo of the Kobs with 119, Pius Ogena with 110, Henry Nsekuye of the Impis with 100, who led for some time but due to an injury that saw him out for about 4 games, Robin Odrua with 86, and Aaron Ofoywroth with 85, who got a call with the Sevens National Team.
As the season ends, we also get to know that the Rams have so far played 17 games, lost 16, drawn one, and won none, as they are getting relegated from the league.
Rams being relegated gives space for Eagles rugby to join the league, the champions of the central league who will be officially crowned on Saturday at Legends following information from the rugby union.
