On a scorching evening in Jinja city, Jinja Hippos rugby club delivered a hard fought 18-14 win over Rhinos rugby club at Dam Waters rugby grounds on Wednesday.
Tawfik Bagalana scored all their two tries in either half for the Hippos to bounce back to winning ways after miserably losing to Heathens last weekend.
Hippos On The Go- PHOTO BY ANDREW TALENGA
The hosts hard to roll their sleeves up to snatch the victory after falling behind in the first half. Rhinos through Musa Bulega crossed the try line as early as the 9th minute for a five points lead.
Yasin Wasswa reduced their advantage to two with a successful penalty attempt six minutes later before Bagalana scored his first try for the Hippos to assume the lead for the first time in the game. Rhinos however refused to lie down and took the game to them with Ivan Kirabo scoring a penalty to level the scores 08-08 before the halftime.
Hippos would stroll back in front after the restart. Bagalana touched down across the try line again and Wasswa delivered the conversion, and another penalty to stretch the lead to 18-08. Kirabo then scored two penalties for the visitors to send a warning of a potential comeback but Charles Onen’s team stuck to their studs to race to their second win of the season.
Coach Onen was nevertheless not convinced by his team’s showings and he demanded better standards from his players despite the win.
“We communicated it to the boys earlier that we should be going all in because all teams out there, and regardless of the results last season, they come back a better side. But they took it for granted and the Rhinos had to bring it to them. It is a learning point for them and us (coaches) as well,” he said.
HIPPOS FIRING- PHOTO BY ANDREW TALENGA
Hippos struggled to breakdown a resilient Rhinos side throughout the game and also missed a conversion in the first half, raising worries among its faithfuls especially when their meeting with the fourth placed Kobs is just two days away. Onen shared the same sentiments but promised to file his team before the weekend match.
“We need to critically look at the areas we failed to execute in the past two games and we rectify them to get the team ready for Saturday.”
“There is a lot that has to be done by the coaching team and players themselves within the short time we have but those areas have to be fixed as soon as possible.”
Ronald Odakai was wheeled off the pitch after sustaining an injury following a neck tackle on him late in the game, and the coach revealed his lock suffered concussion and he may sit out for more than two weeks.
Hippos is currently 7th on the log with 9 points after four games in the Nile special rugby premier league 2022.
Wednesday results
Hippos 18-14 Rhinos
Kobs 28-13 Rams
Pirates 15-9 Impis
Buffaloes 15-10 Mongers
Heathens 77-03 Warriors