2026 Premiership Week 2

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Greetings. Week 2 of the Uganda Rugby Premiership delivered on a variety of levels. There was the major highlight of no team going above the 30-point mark, the last regular season game day with such a return being the Week 1 of the 2024 Rugby Premiership. None of the Big 3 teams scored any points in the second half; this has never occurred in the playoff era. Walukuba finally got to hold a team scoreless for the first time in their Premiership history, after a run of 45 games since 2023, and 63 games dating back to 2018/19. Finally, the biggest upset of the weekend saw Impis dominate their encounter against Heathens to record a first victory against the Kyadondo-based team in more than 20 years.

Warriors v Walukuba

Walukuba have never won their first game of the Premiership. However, their first win has come on the road in 2023, 2024 and this season it was in Week 2 against Warriors. Gift Wokorach led from the front, assisting on two tries; the third try by Reuben Kagwisagye and the fourth try scored by Bob Kawanda. Kagwisagye was in turn the provider for the assist to Livingstone Ssengendo's try. Matthew Oluka had a brilliant solo effort for his try whereas Ivan Bulima rounded up the scoring with Walukuba's fifth try.

In the set pieces, Walukuba had the advantage in the scrum, retaining all 4 of their feeds and winning 3 of Warriors' scrum feeds. Peter Waludebya, Edward Emiemu and Enoch Ibanda were the front row in 11 scrum feeds forcing a scrum penalty on a Warriors feed. Warriors were dominant in the lineouts, having a retention rate of 66.67% on their own lineouts compared to Walukuba's 55.56%. The starting hookers, Emiemu (Walukuba) and Juma Ochan (Warriors) respectively had 5/7 and 3/5 success rates. Emiemu's main target was Shafiq Wampadde, who had 4 clean catches on the seven targets and an extra retention. There was a No Straight ball and an overthrow which was turned over by Warriors. Stephen Agwai was the main target on 11 of  Warriors' 12 lineout throws (4 by Ochan and 7 by Moses Andauda). Agwai secured possession on 8 of 11 throws.

Impis v Heathens

Impis hosted Heathens in a Premiership game for the first time since 2024, a tie they lost 67-10 at Kyadondo. In their last 5 Premiership meetings, Heathens had scored 39 tries to Impis' 5, with Scott Oluoch alone contributing 9 tries in those 5 games. Heathens managed only one try in Saturday's game, and could not produce a score despite making 27 carries in the Impis 22-metre area in the second half alone! Granted 22 of those carries came in the last minutes of the game, as the Heathens were already trailing 10-16. 


The starting halfbacks - Matthew Musasizi and Malcolm Okello for Heathens, Robert Ssentogo and Garvin Kirabo for Impis played an average of 65 minutes, as Okello was the only one of the quartet to play the entire 80 minutes. Ssentongo completed 52 passes, with one pass to Lincoln Mashate resulting in the player carrying into the Opponent's 22. Heathen's Okello completed 11 of 12 passes, the one blemish being the dropped pass that Darren Aine picked to sprint over 80m to score Impis' go-ahead try. Marvin Asaba played only 12 minutes but completed 30 passes, with 22 of those made in the Impis' 22-metre area. 

The Heathens' onslaught in the Impis 22 saw the hosts concede the final 3 penalties of the game, and on each occasion Heathens never opted to go for poles. 

In the set pieces, the two teams were evenly matched. Impis retained possession on 10 of their 17 throws, whereas Heathens retained on 4 out of 7 throws. Aziz Khan was a main disruptor to the Impis lineout, stealing 2 lineouts outrightly. Khan also caught 3 out of the 6 Heathens lineouts where he was the target; the other three resulted in a penalty awarded to Heathens, an overthrow and a knock-on.

Cranes Chronometer Week 2

Before revealing the Cranes Chronometer for Week 2, it has to be pointed out how the expats from Kenya played a significant role in the Victoria v KOBs game on the weekend. Humphrey Asiligwa showed great ingenuity in chasing and retaining possession on a Paul Mutsami kick to land Victoria's only try of the game. Their exploits in helping secure the draw landed them votes in the season-long poll for the MVP race. 

For the Cranes-eligible players, there were a lot of interesting exploits over the weekend, the kind of "crap" that some would say doesn't necessarily get you on the National Team, but out here it definitely gets you onto the Cranes Chronometer. 



Ceteris. Paribus.

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