Rugby Premier League Game day 10 fixtures | Saturday, 11 March
Impis Vs Heathens (Makerere-1:00pm)
Rams Vs Pirates (Makerere-3:00pm)
Rhinos Vs Walukuba (Legends- 4:00pm)
Mongers Vs Kobs (Entebbe- 4:00pm)
Buffaloes Vs Hippos (Kyadondo- 4:00pm)
Following the midweek games played on Wednesday 8th, 2023- International Women’s day holiday, the first half of the Nile Special Rugby league came to its end, teams will therefore be heading into game day ten to kick start the second half of the season.
Impis, who are currently having a poor run of results, resting on a four-game losing streak, will host Heathens at the Graveyard in an early kick off.
Coming from their humiliating loss against Kobs that ended 66-3, they will hope to give their fans a plausible performance seeing that they have been pushing down the table with each passing game day.
The team is currently trying to find form and many have attributed the team’s performance to their red-coloured fixtures. They have faced the big three teams in three of their last four games gathering no point in any of those and so continues the trend as they take on Heathens in the second leg.
The first leg tie played at Kyadondo saw Heathens come off triumphant with a score line showcasing 55-10 as they handed Impis their very first defeat of the season on gameday six.
The “Arrogance boys” will therefore come into this tie with this in mind and hoping to turn the table to their favour this time round.
It is with certainty that midweek rugby games leave players in imperfect shapes to give a hundred percent on pitch in the following weekend fixtures.
Being involved in quite a number of games within a short period of time leaves players with fresh injuries, fatigue, exhaustion, et cetera.
In this particular case, together with game day ten fixtures, players will have played a total of three rugby games in a period of eight days.
Teams with much smaller squads are therefore bound to suffer the effects of such circumstances since they may not be able to field fully abled players.
Such teams may be forced to field some of their second team players as the first team players may be in recovery.
Impis will therefore be coming into this fixture without such effects or at least a few of those, as they were able to rest almost half of their starting squad during the midweek fixture.
Their captain Kennedy Muhumuza, Emmanuel Ssedyabane, Henry Nsekuye, Roy Kizito, Ariho Muhumza and a few others were noted to be rested in their fixture against Kobs.
This decision by Coach Syrus Ssebuliba might have been one in preparation for the weekend tie against Heathens and so, Impis will be glad they have fresh legs coming back in to join and add energy to the team.
Heathens on the other hand might be faced with a challenge of fielding a fatigued and exhausted squad that has not had enough rest having travelled to Entebbe on Wednesday to face Mongers. Even then, they will hope to put up a show and leave the much dreaded Graveyard with a positive result.
It remains to be seen as to whether the midweek fixtures will pose an adverse effect on either team in their first game of the season’s second half.
It should be remembered that Impis were able to defeat Jinja Hippos in their first game of the season, a result that came as a surprise to almost all in the rugby fraternity, and so the Heathens Coach will look to come into this game well prepared and will not take chances because the side he takes on, is able to maximise an opponent’s mistakes from the tee. The Kyadondo side will have to keep disciplined if they are to go away with a result they desire from Makerere
