2007 kyadondo 7's

The third edition of the Kyadondo Women’s 7’s took place on 14th April at Kyadondo Rugby Club (Kampala, Uganda). The 1st edition was in 2004 and Thunderbirds A (then captained by Helen Buteme) defeated Mwamba Invaders from Kenya 10 -00 to win the the tournament. There was no 2005 tournament so the second edition was in 2006. Kyadondo A (Thunderbirds and Rangers combined) captained by Christine Kizito to beat Brown University from USA 19 -00 in the final to become the 2006 champions.

For this years edition, once again, Thunderbirds and Rangers combined to form Kyadondo A and B. Kyadondo A boasted of 9 capped 7's players (Winnie Atyang, Stella Bakole, Christine Kizito, Mary Nakanyike, Rachel Kakaire, Asha Ssonko, Sauda Adiru, Charlotte Mudoola and Hadijah Namuyanja) while Kyadondo B had three 7's caps (Joan Andika, Ann Tumwine and Harriet Kayonjo). Kampala Rugby Club entered their women's side Black Panthers that boasts of a single 7's cap (Helen Buteme) while Mwamba Invaders (Kenya) with about 5 players capped for 7's also drafted 2 players from Harlequins Kweens to boost their team. The Tag Rugby Development Trust (TDRT) from the UK that was in Uganda to introduce tag rugby to primary schools kids in Jinja formed a team (TDRT Tigers) that had touch rugby players trying out contact rugby for the first time as well as players that play rugby league. Two of the Tigers (Lindsay Anfield and Michelle Land aka Shelly) have represented Great Britain at Rugby League World Cups.

The rugby exhibited on this day was great to watch. The Kenyan girl's led by Angela Olum displayed their trademark aggressive style of play combined with pace on the wing. They drew 19 - 19 with the Tigers, beat panthers 31 - 00 and outclassed Kyadondo B 15 - 00 before losing 10 - 00 to Kyadondo A. Linda Anyango was the tournamen'ts top try scorer with 5 tries, while other key players for the Invaders were Doreen Remuor and Celestine Masinde.

All the Ugandan teams displayed sheer pace that wore out Shelly Land's Tigers. The Tigers' general lack of speed cost them dearly and they did not win any games: they lost by close margins to panthers and Kyadondo B and were thrashed by kyadondo A and drew with mwamba. Although new to rugby union & 7's rugby, the Tiger's put up a good show and their rugby league and touch rugby ball handling skills of the Tigers came in handy and they entertained spectators with their free flowing style of rugby. Hopefully both ugandan and kenyan players learnt a trick or two from their UK counterparts and will use it to spice up our rugby in attack.

Kyadondo B led by former 15 aside captain Lillian Ikulumet played 7's as if they were playing 15 aside rugby - too much contact and no imagination but the sidestepping skills and runs of Joan Andika were a joy to watch. she scored 2 tries in the 15 - 12 win against the Tigers. let's hope to see more of the same in June during the CAR 7's. Other notables in Kyadondo B were Ann Tumwine and Harriet Kayonjo.

Black Panthers, coached and captained by Helen Buteme, were the hardest tackling team in the tournament and showed great improvement from last year but still have a lot of polishing to do in order to catch up with Kyadondo A and Mwamba. With blazing runs and try saving tackles, Helen Buteme stood out as well as new call up for 7's national team training Frankline Najjumba, 15's international prop Fortunate Irankunda and youngsters Loy Mbabazi and Brenda Kayi. Black Panthers lost to Kyadondo A and to the Invaders and beat the Tigers 14 - 10 (Panthers tries and conversions by Helen) and beat Kyadondo B 05 - 00 (try by Frankline).

Kyadondo A (captained by Winnie Atyang) used their pace to run rings around the other teams but also dispalyed a trait common amongst all the teams (except TDRT Tigers) in the tournament; lack of creativity in attack and relying on speed to get to the try line. All the same, they played good rugby and they posted high scores of 40 - 00 against both the Tigers and Panthers, 29 - 0 against Kyadondo B and deserved to beat Mwamba Invaders 10 -00 (tries courtesy of Winnie and Sauda). Rachel Kakaire's goal kicking was amazing to watch (she's on par with her male counterparts) as she put in 12 conversions and scored 4 tries to end up the tournament's top points scorer with a total of 44 points. Sauda Adiru also had 4 tries, while Stella Bakole and Christine Kizito had 3 tries each.

It was great to see Uganda Women's Rugby Association chairperson, Irene Namapii, taking the field for Black panthers against mwamba Invaders. Also good to see were women referees Stella Kyalikunda and Dorothy Nekesa refereeing some of the games.

Kyadondo A finished the tournament top with 12pts. Mwamba Invaders were second with 9pts, Black Panthers third with 8pts, Kyadondo B fourth with 6pts and TDRT Tigers last with 5 pts.

Next women 7's action will be the international CAR 7's in Kampala in June this year, followed by the Kabeberi 7's later on in the year.

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