Stanbic Black Pirates steamrolled Walukuba Barbarians during the men’s Uganda Rugby Premiership quarterfinal second leg at Kings Park on Saturday afternoon.
Pirates beat Walukuba by 36-06 (halftime 19-00) in the match played under a light shower on a waterlogged surface.
The Sea Robbers scored four unanswered tries. William Nkore, Timothy Kisiga, Alex Aturinda and Conrad Wanyama were the try scorers. Nkore kicked three penalties and two conversions, and Wanyama had a drop goal.
For the visitors, Gift Wokorach kicked two consolation conversions.
This totalled to an aggregate 63-26 score which punched Pirates’ ticket into the semifinal.
However, the match was not played up to the full eighty minutes of regulation time.
Center referee Gonzaga Mayanja blew the final whistle and ended it prematurely in the sixty-ninth minute.
Walukuba Players Walk Off
In the sixty-ninth minute, a scuffle involving players from both teams broke out on the near-end of the pitch between the Pirates’ bench and the match officials’ table.
After the scuffle ended, the referees and match officials consulted amongst each other. Then Mayanja summoned and spoke to both Pirates and Walukuba captains after which he sent Haruna Mohammed and Ahmed Ssekyanzi to the sin bin for their significant involvement.
When it was time to resume play, with a Walukuba penalty at the five-metre line just inside the Pirates half, the match could not go on as the Walukuba players shockingly refused to return to the pitch.
They walked off the playing field and returned to their tent at the far end of the pitch. This left the referee with no other choice but to end the match prematurely.
This meant that Pirates had won the tie and progressed to the semifinals.
Full Quarterfinals (Second Leg) Results:
• Stanbic Black Pirates 36-06 (agg. 63-26) Walukuba Barbarians
• Platinum Credit Heathens 10-10 (agg. 51-36) Victoria Sharks
• KCB KOBs 30-19 (agg. 37-36) Toyota Buffaloes
• Hippos 32-19 (agg. 52-30) Rhinos
The four semifinalists— Pirates, Heathens, KOBs and Hippos— remain unchanged from last year’s playoffs.
The semifinals, also featuring two home-and-away legs, will be played on April 26 and May 3.
• SF1: Heathens v Pirates
• SF2: Hippos v KOBs
This will be after a break to celebrate the Easter holiday.
