Jinja Hippos are on course to win their first-ever Uganda Rugby men’s top flight XVs title.
They beat KCB KOBs by aggregate score over two legs and progressed to the 2025 Premiership playoffs final.
KOBs won the first leg at Damwaters by 25-22 and Hippos won the second at Legends by 27-22.
The second leg clash was, in many ways, identical to these teams’ two previous meetings this season: Hippos leading early and dominating in the set pieces but KOBs snatching victory at the death.
Aziz Bagalana scored the first try after ten minutes on the back of a powerful Hippos scrum. Yasin Wasswa converted easily and made it 10-00 moments later with a penalty kick.
KOBs got a try fifteen minutes later through Ian Munyani and Josiah Ssempeke cut the deficit to 10-07 with the conversion.
But Wasswa kept Hippos ahead in the tie by kicking a penalty just before halftime for a 13-07 score.
After the break, Wasswa stretched Hippos’ lead with a penalty and a drop goal, making it 19-07 at the hour mark.
KOBs then engaged the gear which had thrice this season seen them snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Within five minutes from the sixty-fifth minute, Mark Osuna scored an unconverted try and Ssempeke kicked a penalty to make it 19-15.
The momentum swing pushed KOBs farther and they were rewarded with a penalty try after Isaac Rujumba’s cynical intervention to slap the ball into touch in goal as Andrew Odhiambo dived to score. But due to failure by the referee to identify the culprit in real time, it is fullback Bruno Kisule who was shown yellow.
The scoreboard read 22-22 with under seven minutes to play but KOBs led on aggregate by 47-44.
However, the distinction at Legends this time is that Hippos were once bitten, twice shy. They had learnt their lesson from crashing defeats in the last play against KOBs.
Hippos’ dominant scrum aimed to deliver the goods as they camped in KOBs’ red zone, not looking for a penalty to send the tie into extra time but rather a try to punch their ticket into the final.
Trevor Maina suffered an injury in the scrum and was stretchered off, forcing KOBs to make changes at the front row. Then things went from bad to worse as Mike Otto received yellow for repeated infringement.
The thirteen-time champions finally yielded and Bagalana crashed over for the match-winning try.
It didn’t matter that Waswa missed the conversion in the last kick of the match. The scoreboard read 27-22 (aggregate 49-47) which was enough for Hippos to jump into wild celebrations.
Hippos will, for the first time in their infant eleven-year history, have a chance to win a premiership XVs title.
They will face either Pirates or Heathens in the final on Saturday, May 10.
