Stanbic Black Pirates will host the ninth edition of the Henry Rujumba Memorial 7s tournament at Kings Park from August 30-31.
Henry Rujumba was a Pirates club stalwart and Rugby Cranes international whose playing style earned him the ‘Ugandan Lomu’ nickname. Pirates named their 7s tournament after Rujumba following his sudden death in January 2015.
This year’s Rujumba 7s will be the fourth stop on the 2025 Nile Special Uganda Rugby 7s Series.
Pools for the event have been drawn on Monday morning at the Next Media Park.
The women’s competition continues to be competitive with no clear pool of death. Joint series leaders Thunderbirds and Avengers have avoided each other in the pools.
Defending champions Black Pearls have a huge mountain to climb out of Pool A against Nile Rapids, Thunderbirds and Panthers.
Women’s Pools for the 2025 Rujumba 7s (non-core invitational team*):
• POOL A: Nile Rapids, Thunderbirds, Black Pearls, Panthers*.
• POOL B: Avengers, She Wolves, Walukuba Titans, Ewes*.
Men’s series leaders, Toyota Buffaloes, are in Pool B with Plascon Mongers, Hippos and Impis.
Hosts and defending champions Pirates will open the overall event’s action because they are in Pool D alongside Walukuba Barbarians, Elgon Wolves and their second-string side Sailors.
Men’s Pools for the 2025 Rujumba 7s (non-core invitational team*):
• POOL A: Heathens, Rams, Eagles, Warriors*.
• POOL B: Buffaloes, Mongers, Hippos, Impis*.
• POOL C: KOBs, Rhinos, Gulu City Falcons, Jaguars*.
• POOL D: Walukuba Barbarians, Pirates, Elgon Wolves, Sailors*.
One sticky issue pops up from the men’s pools; Pirates being in the same pool with Sailors. Recent meetings involving the two, and other affiliated teams like Buffaloes and Bisons at the 2024 Kyadondo 7s, Walukuba Barbarians and Walukuba Trojans at the 2024 Kyabazinga 7s, have left observers suspecting collusion to influence results in the pool phase.
Past Rujumba 7s Winners (Women):
• 2022: Black Pearls
• 2023: Black Pearls
• 2024: Black Pearls
Past Rujumba 7s Winners (Men):
• 2016: Heathens
• 2017: Heathens
• 2018: Buffaloes
• 2019: KOBs
• 2020 – Not Held
• 2021: Black Pirates
• 2022: KOBs
• 2023: Heathens
• 2024: Black Pirates
It remains to be seen whether this trend will continue in the series this year.
