NILE SPECIAL 7s: DOING THE GROUND WORK EARLY

The 2024 Nile Special 7s series has reached the halfway point after concluding the Entebbe, Mbale, Kyadondo and Gulu legs. Pirates and Heathens lead the overall points table with 73 points, but Pirates have an edge in circuits won (2-1). With the top two having a 16-point cushion on the chasing pack, we explore whether the previous seasons Overall winners were decided from the crop that did their work early.

  

In the four seasons played between 2019 and 2023, the Overall winners were KOBs (2019 and 2021), Hippos (2022) and Pirates (2023). In both 2019 and 2021, KOBs had won 3 of the first four circuits en route to winning the National Sevens series.

Hippos were the only team to be crowned overall Champions having not won any of the first four circuits. In 2022, Heathens had won 2 of their 3 finals appearances in the first four circuits, only for KOBs, Hippos and Pirates to win the last 3, with Hippos reaching all three finals.

Stretching back to 2015, the only time an overall winner did not appear in the final of the first leg was 2015 and 2022. KOBs won 3 consecutive tournaments in 2015 having not appeared in the final of the first leg (between Heathens and Buffaloes). For 2022, the first leg was contested between Pirates and Impis, which happened to be Impis' sole final appearance that year as Pirates just made one more final appearance the entire Sevens season.

The Sevens series is a tournament that rewards consistency and the overall winners from each of the last 9 seasons has been the team that has appeared in the most finals. The winners appeared in an average 4.8 finals, with KOBs appearing in 7 finals in 2019 (winning 4). In that stretch, Pirates were the only team to appear in 5 or more finals and not win the Overall title. Pirates appeared in 7 and 5 finals in 2019 and 2021 respectively, winning 3 tournaments in each of those years where KOBs emerged overall victors.

 

In the women's series, we have only had a nationwide series starting last year. In the 2023 series, Black Pearls played in 3 (winning 3) of the first 4 circuits as Avengers and Thunderbirds made 2 and 1 appearances respectively. The final 3 circuits were all between Avengers and Black Pearls, with Avengers having a 2-1 edge despite Black Pearls clinching the overall title.

Judging from past results, this year's series is likely to come down to the two teams that have done the most in the first half of the Sevens season. 

Ceteris. Paribus.