After the Entebbe 7s circuit, Heathens’ Captain Nicholas Kato said his side will play every game like they would play a final, and this was sighted at the Greenlight Stadium in Arua on Saturday as Heathens triumphed over Hippos in the final of the Arua 7s circuit.
Heathens Rugby club beat the Jinja Hippos 12-10 in the Entebbe 7s and 10-00 in the Arua 7s, to displace the Stanbic Black Pirates from the topmost position on the log.
Heathens and Hippos have met twice on a final in the 2022 Nile Special 7s, and the former has won both.
According to Kato, having some of the team players away on national duty didn’t stop the League champions from dragging the Hippos in Arua, with unconverted tries from Joaquim Chissano and Malcolm Daniel Okello in the final.
To make the final, Hippos beat Impis 16-05 while Heathens beat Stanbic Pirates in the semis.
Laurence Ssebuliba turned into a Pirates punisher in both the group stage and the semis as he scored thrice and twice at both stages to earn circuit MVP.
Heathens lead with 56 points, two points ahead of the Stanbic Black Pirates (54). The Jinja Hippos come third with 51, Impis fourth with 46, Rams 42, and Toyota Buffaloes are sixth with 39.
Title holders the Kobs are seventh with 30, followed by warriors at 27, Walukuba Barbarians at 23, and the Plascon Mongers come 10th with 23 points on the log.
The next circuit will be the Rujumba 7s hosted by Pirates at Kings Park on the 3rd and 4th of September.
That will be followed by the Tooro 7s at Buhinga Stadium in Fort Portal, the Kyabazinga 7s at Bugembe in Jinja, and finally the Buffaloes 7s at Kyadondo Rugby Club in Kampala on 15th and 16th October.
