Things at Impis Rugby Club are going according to the script of their cyclic metamorphosis: struggle for a few seasons in the top flight, get relegated, dominate the second division, return to the top flight almost immediately… and repeat.

But this time, the cycle feels and looks different. It is giving a breath of fresh air and hope for success in the long term. Impis have a brand new generation of players and there has been a change of guard on the technical bench.

Alvin Nkamba is the new head coach. He steps up for his first season after coaching St Mary’s College Kisubi (SMACK) in the Schools League for two years. Nkamba has come to The Graveyard with his trusted young lieutenants and also wooed more fine talents he saw featuring for other schools like Makerere College School, Kings College Budo, and Namilyango College.

They include Uganda U20 international (2023) Matthew Musasizi, Darren Aine, and Ethan Mugabi whose name is on the Rugby Cranes training list.

“The transition has been beautiful and it’s going smoothly as planned. It’s basically having the few experienced players we have left at the club gelling in with these young boys and trying to give them a bit of the feel of what we need from them come time, T ideally when we get to the peak of our project,” Nkamba said to Kawowo Sports on Saturday.

The few experienced players are Clive Lumu, Deus Nkera, and former chairperson Pius Mpoza.

The project Nkamba speaks of is working well, so far. The Makerere University club have begun life in the men’s Central Region Championship with a bang. They beat Kyambogo University, 50-00, during the first round last week and blew Kisubi University Pacers by 75-06 in the second round this week.

Nonetheless, Nkamba admits he still has a lot of work to finetune and prepare Impis’ high school graduates for life in open-age rugby.

“I could say the most important thing is to have the boys in the best physical condition, because as you know, the physical requirement of playing rugby out here is not the same as what is required physically from these individuals playing from the schools league.

“Then after that, we get them into what we call the tradition of the club: understand what we need, what we (Impis) are built on. From there, we get into understanding our game plan and being able to gel together because they are individuals from different schools.”

Nkamba has put all of Impis’ eggs in his basket of schools league graduates because “they’ve shown the hunger” and he is confident “they are the main ingredient in what we need to get back to the league.”

It looks realistically possible to achieve this target. Because Impis have done it time and time again before. In the past, they have exhibited incredible speed to spring back to their feet and rub shoulders with the big boys of Ugandan rugby. Owing to the bulk of their playing squad sticking around and by looking within for the right tactician to lead them to the promised land.

But the reality check from the past is they slid back down as fast as they climbed up. Within two years from 2022, Impis had been relegated from the premiership and lost core status in the 7s series.

With Nkamba pushing the reset button and viewing a return to the premiership as simply a means to the good old days, Impis are playing the long game to stay and thrive in the promised land.

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