A great deal of rugby was played all year round in the 2023-24 Uganda season. From the Uganda Cup through the men’s Nile Special Rugby Championship, the women’s XVs league, the 13th African Games, the men’s and women’s Rugby Africa 7s tournaments, the Rugby Africa Cup, the Nile Special 7s Series, the Kitaka 10s, the Safari 7s, and finally, the Masters Challenge.
After two entertaining nights in 2022 and 2023, this year’s Uganda Rugby Union (URU) Awards was inexplicably not held – the union unfortunately had no money to organise the event. But to move onto the new 2024-25 season without recognising this year’s top performers would be a disservice.
revisit 2023 Awards night
So, as the calendars flip the page on a dramatic and eventful 2024, let’s name our would-be Uganda Rugby Union Awards winners.
- Men’s Upcoming Player of the Year: Benjamin Muwanguzi (KCB KOBs)
- Women’s Upcoming Player of the Year: Mary Nakato (Black Pearls)
Fresh from high school, Benjamin Muwanguzi jumped into KOBs’ deep end and filled the big shoes of 2023 MVP Pius Ogena in the eighthman position. Ten tries in thirteen matches during the Championship was unprecedented.
Despite putting her footballing career first, Mary Nakato averaged two tries per match as Black Pearls won a third successive women’s league. This was her first season in the top flight, showcasing blistering pace and an eye for the tryline.
- Domestic Coach of the Year: Mohammed Athiyo (Platinum Credit Heathens)
- International Coach of the Year: Charles Onen (Uganda Women’s 7s)
Mohammed Athio won a season treble of the Uganda Cup, XVs Championship, and 7s Series – plus the Masters Challenge for good measure- with Heathens. Heathens lost just once in twenty-one competitive XVs match played. He would have, without a doubt, reclaimed his 2022 gong.
In only their World Rugby 7s Challenger Series debut, Charles Onen steered Uganda to two semifinals in Dubai and Montevideo; eventually finishinging sixth out of the twelve participating countries. The Women’s 7s bagged gold in rugby 7s’ inaugural appearance athe African Games, a Willem Strauss International 7s cup, and two bronze medals in the Africa 7s and Safari 7s to cap off a largely successful year.
- Women’s Most Valuable Player: Emilly Lekuru (Black Pearls)
- Men’s Most Valuable Player: Malcolm Daniel Okello (Platinum Credit Heathens & Uganda Men’s 7s)
2024 was Emilly Lekuru and Malcolm Okello’s year. They were in a class of their own this year.
Lekuru scored a record sixty-nine tries in twelve matches during the XVs league and another record eighty-three during the 7s series that everybody else – boy or girl, man or woman – can only dream about.
Okello, a youngster only two years since being named the men’s upcoming player, inspired Heathens to an unprecedented sweep. The Uganda Cup – he was MVP, the Nile Special Rugby Championship, and the Nile Special 7s Series. He also broke into the Uganda Men’s 7s fold, playing at the Willem Strauss International 7s and Safari 7s. Being named MVP in the Masters Challenge final against Jinja Hippos was just the cherry on the ice cake.
DISCLAIMER: This is not, in any way or form, an official replacement of the URU Awards organised and held by Uganda Rugby Union.
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