The 2025 men’s Uganda Rugby Premiership successfully concluded the Regular Season last week and is now ready to start the playoff round.
The top eight ranked teams will battle over five weeks from this Friday, April 4, until the last man standing to lift the trophy.
It’s time for serious business!
NBS Sport has prepared a guide to the playoffs with all the information you need. From a brief about the participating teams, their performance in the regular season, what the coaches said, the knockout bracket and road to the final, and the broadcast schedule.
How will the Premiership Playoffs be played?
The Premiership Playoffs will begin at the quarterfinal stage, followed by the semifinal stage, and then the final.
The quarterfinals and semifinals will be two home-and-away legs.
Quarterfinal Fixtures (H&A):
• QF1: Platinum Credit Heathens v Victoria Sharks
• QF2: Stanbic Black Pirates v Walukuba Barbarians
• QF3: KCB KOBs v Toyota Buffaloes
• QF4: Hippos v Rhinos
NBS Sport will broadcast Victoria Sharks v Heathens on Friday, April 4, at 4.30 p.m. from Kyadondo, Rhinos v Hippos on Saturday, April 5, at 3 p.m. from Legends, and Pirates v Walukuba on Saturday, April 12, at 3 p.m. from Kings Park.
Semifinal Fixtures (H&A):
• SF1: Winner QF1 v Winner QF2
• SF2: Winner QF3 v Winner QF4
The winner at the quarterfinal and semifinal stages will be determined by aggregate points from the two legs.
The Final (one-off):
• Winner SF1 v Winner SF2
The final will be a single one-off match. There will be no placement matches in the playoffs.
In case of a tie, the winner will be determined, according to the tournament manual, by a five-step tie-breaker criteria in this order:
(i) extra time of thirty minutes total,
(ii) the team with the most tries in the fixture,
(iii) the team with the least disciplinary cards over the two legs or the final. A red card is worth two yellow cards,
(iv) Five place kicks per team along the 15-metre line from touch in the side of the kickers choice using five different kickers,
(v) if the teams are still tied at this point, then the fixture will be resolved with the toss of a coin.
More about the teams in the playoffs:
• Position 8/12: Walukuba Barbarians
Played 11, Won 5, Drawn 1, Lost 5, Bonus Points 4, Total Points 26.
Walukuba is a team that plays with the handbrake off. Their forwards are quick and explosive, and their backs are venomous in open play. Fortunately, and unfortunately, a couple of times, this resulted in a mixed bag of results, which just about got them into the playoffs but pitted them against the strongest team on the table.
They will face top-seeded Pirates in a repeat of the opening match of the season. Pirates won that tie at Kings Park by 38-10 points.
What the coach Leonard Lubambula said: “Our focus for the playoffs is to focus on what we have, we will capitalize on what is ours; I mean our team strength and try to polish on the set pieces. We promised ourselves to be in the semis regardless of who we meet, and we definitely want to reward ourselves.”
• Position 7/12: Toyota Buffaloes
Played 11, Won 5, Drawn 2, Lost 4, Bonus Points 3, Total Points 27.
Buffaloes have relied a great deal on their kicker and captain, Liam Walker, to deliver results this season. Walker scored four times more points than any of his other teammates. The team will need to dig deeper as a team to go farther in the playoffs.
They will face KOBs in the quarterfinal. KOBs won the regular season meeting at Kyadondo by 26-10 in the fourth round.
What the coach Charles Onen said: “Playing KOBs that finished second in the regular season will require us to focus on executing our fundamentals with precision and consistency. Ultimately, our goal is to play to our strengths, minimize mistakes, and impose our game plan.”
• Position 6/12: Rhinos
Played 11, Won 6, Drawn 0, Lost 5, Bonus Points 5, Total Points 29.
Rhinos started the season with a huge victory against KOBs but their momentum was affected by the departure of key players for national 7s duty. Coupled with unfortunate injuries towards the tail end, they struggled to maintain a consistent squad through the regular season. This will likely continue into the playoffs.
They met their quarterfinal opponent, Hippos, in Round Ten of the regular season. That match went down to the wire with the latter needing a late try to clinch a relieving 27-22 away victory.
What the coach Martial Tchumkam said: “We are focusing on neutralizing Hippos in their pack. If we are going to compete against them, we have to match them there. We are also trying to get the injured players back into contention for selection. The medical team have their hands full with many casualties. We pray they pull a trick out of their hats on this.”
• Position 5/12: Victoria Sharks
Played 11, Won 6, Drawn 1, Lost 4, Bonus Points 4, Total Points 30.
Victoria Sharks’ biggest concern all season has been and will continue to be on paper since the majority of their key players are on loan and are not eligible to play against their parent clubs.
Case in point: their quarterfinal opponent Heathens, from whom they acquired eight players on loan. Heathens survived by the skin of their teeth (15-13 FT score) against Victoria Sharks in Round Nine.
What the coach, Kevin Makmot, said: “My technical team and I are planning to win the game and move forward.”
• Position 4/12: Platinum Credit Heathens
Played 11, Won 7, Drawn 1, Lost 3, Bonus Points 7, Total Points 37.
Heathens, who swept the 2024 season with four trophies, had their worst season on record since 2018— losing three successive matches and drawing once. This string of poor results pinned their backs on the wall for the majority of the regular season. Despite all this, as a club of their calibre, Heathens are still a team to beware of.
They will face Victoria Sharks in the quarterfinals with both matches to be played at Kyadondo.
What the coach Mohammed Athiyo said: “The regular season was quite a challenge— we found ourselves in a position we had not in quite a while. But as usual, we sat down as a team— players and technical team— and asked ourselves what was going on. So far, we’ve been able to put our heads down together and sorted our issues. We are good and geared up for the playoffs.”
• Position 3/12: Jinja Hippos
Played 11, Won 9, Drawn 0, Lost 2, Bonus Points 4, Total Points 40.
Hippos labelled themselves, legitimately to some extent, as the team with the best scrum in the country. They powered over most teams and became near-unbeatable at Damwaters.
For a team in the conversation of potential champions, Hippos’ defence (5th best) and attack (4th best) will need to match or better that of teams who have won the title before.
What the coach Edmond Quaresma said: “To be precise, we want to look at our discipline to avoid conceding penalties in high-pressure situations.”
• Position 2/12: KCB KOBs
Played 11, Won 9, Drawn 1, Lost 1, Bonus Points 6, Total Points 44.
This year, KOBs solved their boardroom and administrative challenges from past seasons to return to their historically successful status. A timely change in their leadership structure has steered them back to the top.
What the coach Timothy Mudoola said: “Focus is turning the green zone visits into points. We’ve squandered so many points-scoring (especially tries) opportunities whenever we visit the opponent’s red zone.”
• Position 1/12: Stanbic Black Pirates
Played 11, Won 10, Drawn 0, Lost 1, Bonus Points 9, Total Points 49.
Pirates have topped not just the final table but also the logs for best attack & top points scorers and best defence & least tries conceded. One of their biggest arsenals has been the quality of coming off the bench to change trailing margins to leading positions and close-off matches.
What the coach Marvin Odongo said: “Our target is to win the next game. So our focus is the next game! It’s the most important game.”
NBS Sport has a dedicated rugby show, ‘The Scrum,’ which airs every Friday from 4 p.m., where you can watch in-depth discussions on all rugby matters in Uganda.
