Walukuba Barbarians to test systems at Kings Park ahead of playoffs

For the third straight season, Walukuba will finish 8th in the Rugby Premiership, regardless of their result against Black Pirates on Saturday.

As a matter of fact, Walukuba can’t drop to the Bottom 4 as they are 6 points ahead of fellow Jinja side Hippos. Similarly, they can’t climb higher in the Top 8 as they are 6 points behind Impis. This leaves Walukuba in a sticky situation, facing familiar foes, the Black Pirates, over 3 successive weekends.

For all the wonders that the Walukuba Barbarians have done in the 7s game, they are yet to break the ceiling in the 15s game since regaining promotion in the 2022 season. This season, they have come so close to collecting a few more wins, but have been hard done by in the final minutes of games, as was the case against the Mongers and Impis in Jinja, and recently against the Heathens at Kyadondo.

This inability to see out games has been a cause of concern for coach Leo Lubambula, who believes his side should do better at that stage of the game.

“There have been a couple of games that we’ve lost in the last minutes. One of the things we have to work on going into the playoffs is being able to win big games,” Lubamba noted after a painful loss to the Heathens last Saturday.

Going into their last fixture of the regular season, the Walukuba Barbarians have set their eyes on the bigger picture.

“We are looking forward to the quarterfinals. We promised ourselves to be in the semifinals, so we do not mind whoever we are going to play against in the quarterfinals, because we would have played everyone in the regular season,” notes Lubambula.

But first, Walukuba have to play the fixture in front of them at the Kings Park Arena on Saturday. Lubambula says that this is an important fixture for the Barbarians as they look forward to a strong finish to the regular season.

“We know there’s a strong possibility of meeting Pirates 100% again in the playoffs, so this match is a key pillar in our preparation. We want to build momentum, improve our systems, and lay a better foundation heading into the quarterfinals,” he remarked.

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