After weeks of neck and neck contests through five stops, there is a bit of daylight between the series early leaders and its challengers on the standings logs.
Walukuba Barbarians and Thunderbirds, who won the first stop of the 2025 Nile Special Uganda Rugby 7s Series, now have one hand on the men’s and women’s trophies respectively.
Despite losing the Kyabazinga 7s Cup Final, Thunderbirds have stretched their gap ahead of Avengers to six points. They were helped in part by Avengers’ loss in the bronze medal match.
Similarly, despite being the only team to have won two Cup Finals, Nile Rapids are still stuck at the bottom of the table. The core team who won these cups didn’t participate in the first two stops of the series.
Women’s Overall Standings after Stop 5 Kyabazinga 7s:
1 Thunderbirds 96
2 Avengers 90
3 Walukuba Titans 77
4 She Wolves 72
5 Black Pearls 71
6 Nile Rapids 67
Not only did Walukuba win the Kyabazinga 7s Cup Final but their challenger Toyota Buffaloes shot blanks in the knockout round. Buffaloes’ sixth place finish meant Walukuba gained a healthy dozen points on them.
Gulu City Falcons have held the men’s wooden spoon from the start but there is still chance of survival for Elgon Wolves and Kampani Eagles above them.
Men’s Overall Standings after Stop 5 Kyabazinga 7s:
1 Walukuba Barbarians 97
2 Buffaloes 85
3 Heathens 78
4 Pirates 75
5 KOBs 68
6 Rhinos 64
7 Hippos 50
8 Rams 48
9 Mongers 47
10 Eagles 38
11 Elgon Wolves 33
12 Gulu City Falcons 17
There are two stops— Kabale 7s on September 20-21 and Kyadondo 7s on September 27-28, to the end of the 2025 series. The fate of relegation candidates (two men’s and one women’s) and destiny of champions-in-waiting can potentially be determined in Kabale.
