National 7s champions elect Walukuba Barbarians survive Mongers scare to reach Buffaloes 7s quarterfinals

Day One of the National Sevens Series finale, Buffaloes 7s, began with an unfamiliar Mongers loss to the Eagles.

In their second game of the day, the Entebbe-based side came out to make amends against the series leaders, Walukuba Barbarians, and they almost did.

Walukuba went ahead first, with a converted try, but the Mongers responded with two tries of their own. The first half ended 10-7 in favour of the Mongers, who looked the better side in that passage.

The Barbarians started the second half as slow as they played the first half and were instantly punished. The Mongers extended their lead to 15 points after a series of penalties put the Barbarians under pressure.

The game seemed to be out of Walukuba’s reach, but not until the introduction of Ivan Bulima. The man of the moment sliced through the Mongers’ defence and touched down under the uprights, and a successful conversion followed.

The Barbarians slipped up once again when Bulima fumbled the ball backwards, and it was picked up by Mongers’ Eden Shatif, who made a run for the try line. The comeback that was on the horizon for the series leaders seemed to slip away, but then Ivan Bulima happened once again.

An assist to Gift Wokorach closed the gap on the Mongers, leading to a one-point game, the score 21 -22.

The Mongers failed to gather the restart, handing possession over to the Barbarians, who welcomed it with open arms. Ivan Bulima once again got on the ball and scored his second try of the game after the hooter had gone.

The try sealed the win for Walukuba, who now head into the quarterfinals either as first or second seed in Group B.