The Nile Special National Sevens has always carried drama but the 2025 edition turned into something else entirely. It was worth a season that served both rebellion and royalty.
While Jinja Hippos attempted a coup in the fifteens code, this was the year when the game’s power map shifted eastwards again as Walukuba Barbarians stormed into history with their first-ever national title.
Chaos, sparks
The season began in confusion at Kyadondo. Makerere Impis and Warriors withdrew due to financial constraints while Hippos bizarrely entered two rival squads due to internal wrangles that eventually forced their sister outfit Nile Rapids to sit out.
The Sevens organizing committee, against its own rules, chose not to expel Rapids, branding them ‘players of national interest.’ In Gulu, girls from Kitgum were even allowed to step in barefooted into the Rapids big shoes to keep the show going.
Hippos too were spared, borrowing players from Rwanda before resolving, or rather shelving their dispute for a proper time, by the third circuit at Kings Park.
Despite the turbulence, Hippos’ original side sparked, claiming bronze at Rujumba and Buffaloes Sevens. Rapids reunited and stormed back to win in Entebbe and Bugembe to prove a point.
But it was Walukuba Barbarians, focused and underestimated amid the chaos, who truly lit up the stage. They stunned Heathens 26-14 at the final of the Coronation Sevens to signal a potential balance of power tilting away from Kampala once more. Hippos had broken the ice in 2022 when they became the first team outside the central region to lift the crown.
Old giants, new challengers
The eastern uprising, however, did not go uncontested. Buffaloes, long hidden under Heathens’ shadow, clawed their way into contention with a gritty 5-0 win over Walukuba to take the Gulu circuit.
Heathens themselves returned to form in Entebbe and marched to the title almost effortlessly.
Pirates, back home at Kings Park, rediscovered their flair in their new colours to edge Walukuba 12-10 in the final and briefly threatened to disrupt the standings.
Every circuit shifted momentum with four different winners in all but Walukuba’s consistency kept them on top despite some hiccups.
Royalty
By the time the caravan rolled into Jinja, fate had intervened. Busoga Kingdom announced the birth of royal twins to Kyabazinga William Gabula and suddenly Walukuba’s surge carried Busoga’s weight. This week the team presented their trophies to the King at the palace at Igenge.
The Kyabazinga Sevens felt preordained. Walukuba arrived with the series lead and the huge roar of the home fans.
They ground out a bruising derby win against Hippos, strangled Kobs 7-5 in the semis and faced Heathens in a final that had a bit of revenge against the Kyadondo side that had beaten them in the same fixture last year.
The match see-sawed until Walukuba held firm to edge it 12-10. When the final whistle blew, Jinja erupted. In the four-year history of the Kyabazinga Sevens, no team had lifted the trophy and failed to win the overall crown, at least the superstitious lot understand this.
Buffaloes still harboured mathematical hope going into the final leg at Kyadondo but their collapse on day one handed the title.
Walukuba were crowned after finishing with 129 points, nine clear of Buffaloes who eventually lost the overall silver medal to Heathens after the latter won the Buffaloes stop.
Half-glass for ladies
While the men’s competition veered between chaos and rebellion, the women’s series revealed both dynasties and disruptors.
Thunderbirds reclaimed their crown after tallying 135 points to stay ahead of Avengers. Yet cracks appeared.
In Gulu, Avengers stunned the eventual champions 14-10, exposing flaws in a side long seen as untouchable. Their coach blaming the ‘self-destruction’ on his stars abandoning structure for individual flair but they quickly got over that.
The most emotional moment, however, belonged to Nile Rapids. Scarred from their Kyadondo boycott, they arrived in Entebbe as outsiders. Mediation at parent club Jinja Hippos forced bitter rivals into temporary unity and out of that truce came magic.
In the final against Avengers, with scores tied 5-5 in sudden death, Shaine Babirye sliced through for the winning try.
Elsewhere, Walukuba Titans hinted at a bright future, while Black Pearls drifted without star Emilly Lekuru, whose absence robbed them of their cutting edge.
There is consensus that the women’s game is growing but centrally and a slower rate. Opinion leaders advise the Union not to relegate teams but instead increase the numbers.
A lack of playing time for the regional invitation sides was exposed pointing at the struggling second tiers across the nation.
Changing of guard
As the dust settled on a dramatic season, attention quickly turned to those fighting for a place in next year’s top flight.
Elgon Wolves and Gulu City Falcons were relegated from the Uganda Sevens Series after finishing at the bottom of the 2025 standings.
The Wolves ended the campaign in 11th place with 43 points, while the Falcons finished last on 27, both losing their core status as the series wrapped up at Kyadondo.
Elgon Wolves suffered a painful end to what had once been a fairytale journey. The Mbale-based side had enjoyed two seasons in the Sevens and one stint in the fifteens championship but their downfall was sealed in dramatic fashion.
Their relegation was compounded by off-field turmoil after the team was docked points for fielding an ineligible player, Michael Ochieng, who had previously featured for Kenya Harlequins in the Kenya Sevens circuit. The sanction erased their slim survival hopes and turned a promising campaign into a painful collapse.
But as two names dropped off, new ones rose to take their place. The 2026 Core Status Qualifiers, held last weekend at the Ruga Ruga Sports Complex in Busukuma brought together eight men’s teams (two per region) and four women’s sides (one per region).
In the women’s round-robin competition, Ewes emerged top after beating Mbale Eagles, Kitgum Queens and Kigezi Queens to secure the only available slot for next season’s series.
In the men’s category, Victoria Sharks edged Mbale Elephants 12-7 in the final, though both finalists earned automatic promotion to next year’s core group.
Ewes, Sharks and Mbale Elephants will now mark their debut season as full-time members of the top-tier national Sevens circuit next season.
But as the new teams prepared to rise, individual stars were auditioning for higher honours on the national stage.
Perfect Audition
Numbers told part of this tale. Heathens’ Julius Oyuk and Thunderbirds’ Comfort Angayika finished as top try scorers, their consistency shining through the chaos.
Both did not go unnoticed as they earned places in the respective national teams for 27th edition of the Safari Sevens in Nairobi this weekend.
Uganda Rugby Cranes Sevens also oversaw a transition from the golden coach Tolbert Onyango to Allan Otim. The new sheriff has started to lay his marker by giving debut calls to Oyuk alongside Fat Moses Watmon (Buffaloes), Jeremiah Ojambo (Pirates) and Walukuba duo Shakim Ssembusi and Ivan Bulima. Others on the team include Allan Olango, Roy Kizito, Patrick Okello, Gift Wokorach, Jones Kamiza, and Daniel Otim.
With this group, Otim who is succeeding the golden era of Onyango, begins his tenure on a clean slate, chasing a trophy that long eluded his predecessor in Nairobi.
Nile Special 7s
Final Standings
1. Walukuba Barbarians – 129 pts
2. Heathens – 117
3. Buffaloes – 114
4. Pirates – 109
5. Rhinos – 94
6. KCB Kobs – 86
7. Hippos – 77
8. Eagles – 60
9. Mongers – 60
10. Rams – 58
List of Uganda 7s series champions since 2001
Men
2001 – Heathens
2002 – Heathens
2003 – Heathens
2004 – Heathens
2005 – Heathens
2006 – KOBs
2007 – Heathens
2008 – Heathens
2009 – Heathens
2010 – Impis
2011 – Heathens
2012 – Heathens
2013 – Heathens
2014 – Buffaloes
2015 – KOBs
2016 – KOBs
2017 – KOBs
2018 – Pirates
2019 – KOBs
2020 – Not held
2021 – KOBs
2022 – Hippos
2023 – Piratesde
2024 – Heathens
2025 – Walukuba Barbarians
Women’s 7s Series (since 2021)
2021 – Black Pearls
2022 – Black Pearls
2023 – Black Pearls
2024 – Avengers
2025 – Thunderbirds