A month has passed since the bottom four ranked teams in the 2025 men’s Uganda Rugby Premiership played competitive rugby.
When they return to action this Saturday, the four— Warriors, Plascon Mongers, Kampani Eagles and Elgon Wolves— will be battling, not for the trophy, but to survive the chop in the Relegation Playoffs.
This is our guide to the relegation playoffs. With all the information you need; from a brief about the participating teams and their performance in the regular season to what the fixtures look like and how the guillotine will be dropped.
NBS Sport also asked the four coaches what the key ingredient to their respective teams’ survival will be.
Two will stay, two will go down. Let the relegation scrap begin!
How will the Relegation Playoffs be played?
The Relegation Playoffs will be played at the semifinal stage in a home-and-away shootout for survival.
The ninth-ranked team will face the twelfth-ranked team while the tenth-ranked will take on the eleventh-ranked as shown below.
Relegation Playoffs Fixtures (H&A):
• SF1: Warriors (9) v (12) Elgon Wolves
• SF2: Plascon Mongers (10) v (11) Kampani Eagles
The first leg matches will be hosted by the lower-ranked teams— Elgon Wolves in Mbale and Eagles at Kitante— on Saturday, April 26, and the second leg matches will be on Saturday, May 3, at Legends and Entebbe respectively.
The winners, determined by aggregate score from both legs, will maintain their place in the Premiership while the losers will be relegated to their respective regional championships.
What happens in case of a draw?
Similar to the Premiership Playoffs, in case of a draw after regulation time in the second leg, 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. 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.
There will be no placement match or final in the relegation playoffs.
More about the teams in the relegation playoffs:
• Position 9/12: Warriors
Played 11, Won 3, Drawn 0, Lost 8, Bonus Points 3, Total Points 15.
To many, including some within the club, Warriors did half the job of surviving relegation in the regular season when they beat all the teams in the scrap with them. Especially that final round match against Mongers which sealed ninth place, won in the last play by teenager Ivan Longa’s conversion.
But the regular season ended ages ago and that feeling of accomplishment can be misleading.
What the coach Gabriel Aredo said: “We are sticking to our systems and hopefully (we shall) come off better than the opposition come game day.”
• Position 10/12: Plascon Mongers
Played 11, Won 2, Drawn 0, Lost 9, Bonus Points 3, Total Points 11.
Mostly through faults of their own in the past two or three seasons, Mongers have fallen on tough times. They have slid from being comfortably top four and giving title contenders a run for their money to barely fielding a consistent matchday squad and settling for losing bonus points.
Being in the relegation scrap is either the wake-up call Mongers did not know they needed or it will be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
What the coach Brian Makalama said: “Attitude. We need to be focused on the fixtures ahead, the spot we are in was self made and we need to dig ourselves out of this pit. There is nothing special other than hard work and discipline.”
• Position 11/12: Kampani Eagles
Played 11, Won 1, Drawn 0, Lost 10, Bonus Points 4, Total Points 8.
Eagles had been on a normal trajectory until Round Five when their teammate and playmaker Ronnie Kayondo lost his life during a match. They never fully recovered emotionally and things went from bad to worse on the pitch.
They were far from their best throughout the season and unlike last year when confidence was high, it is desperate times.
What the coach Cherokee Sylvain Ngue said: “It is true that the Eagles Rugby have experienced some very difficult times this season, both emotionally and sportingly. Nevertheless, our top ingredient survival in the Premiership will be ‘our mindset and our ability to remain strategically and tactically disciplined’ during the two games.”
• Position 12/12: Elgon Wolves
Played 11, Won 0, Drawn 0, Lost 0, Bonus Points 0, Total Points 0.
It was always going to be difficult for Elgon Wolves to compete in the top flight. They played their maiden season as the most under-resourced team, covered the most mileage, and had the smallest squad size filled with the least experienced players. Even on their best day and against teams on their worst day, Elgon Wolves were hardly on a level playing field.
But the relegation playoffs is not a long part of tournament and conditions might be kinder to them.
What the coach Hamissi Katumba said: “Mental resilience. It’s not just about tactics—it’s about handling pressure. Elgon Wolves need to stay composed, stay united, and fight for every ball like it’s their last. Talent alone won’t save them; it’s grit, discipline, and belief that will keep us in the top tier.”
Who will get promoted?
The two relegated teams will be replaced by the finalists from the promotional playoffs.
Regional champions from the Central (Impis), Eastern (either Kakira Simbas or Njeru Hurricanes), Northern and Western will take part in this tournament at a later date.
NBS Sport has a dedicated rugby show ‘The Scrum’ which airs every Friday from 4 p.m. where we go in-depth on all rugby developments in Uganda.
