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The Stanbic Black Pirates will not be oblivious of the threat that Impis Rugby Club possesses, when the two teams clash this weekend on match-day six of the Nile Special Rugby Premiership at the King’s Park Arena in Bweyogerere.
Impis, who are coming off a 24-34 defeat at the hands of the KCB Kobs last weekend, their second loss of the season in five games, have already picked major scalps in the shape of Platinum Credit Heathens.
However, seeing the way Pirates dismantled the Entebbe Plascon Mongers 61-23 last weekend, a team that edged Impis 17-16 a couple of weeks ago, should spell a daunting prospect for the Makerere side.
Beyond that, coming off a 26-30 defeat at the hands of Heathens a fortnight ago, a result that shocked the Pirates, their focus now is on ensuring that they build momentum again, marked by a ruthless killer instinct.
Following defeat to Heathens, there was a lot of recrimination towards the entire Pirates squad about the manner in which they lost the tie. Despite clearly dominating the second half and controlling proceedings, the Pirates gave away two quick tries, that were largely attributed to laxity in defending and failure to tackle decisively.
Pirates coach, Marvin Odong highlighted the team’s loss of concentration for the whole 80 minutes of the game. In fact, it is an issue Odong had raised even after their season opener against the Kobs.
Although they won that game, following a dominant first half performance, in the second half, they seemed to have switched off, which saw Kobs peg them back, for a frantic finish. Odong said then, that they were proving to be their worst enemies every moment they did not concentrate on executing minute by minute team strategies.
This was proving costly, like it could easily have been against the Buffaloes, too, on match- day two, where a sizeable halftime lead, turned into an uncomfortable 23-17 win in the end. Some of Pirates critics believe that the team tends to get complacent every time they get into a big lead over their opponents.
As a result, they have been caught cold and punished for it. Pirates may have survived a resurgent second half fight back from Kobs and Buffaloes, but Heathens made them pay for their laxity.
On the basis of that, Odong was impressed by the response they showed against the Mongers. Put simply, they were ruthless, taking every opportunity to put points on the board whenever it presented itself.
Unlike in some of their previous games, when decision-making may not have been on point, this time, they took no chances. They avoided the element of over-confidence.
Odong said: “The boys showed great character and executed the game plan well. We now have to maintain focus so that we build momentum as the season progresses.”
Notably, Odong will be happy about how his entire squad, including the substitutes’ performance against the Mongers. New recruit, Davis Shimwa, previously with the Rhinos, was rather impressive, scoring a try and assisting twice in the first half. Shimwa’s athleticism is a big boost to the Pirates team.
But it also goes a long way to showcase the strength in-depth that this squad has. Impis will have Pirates’ quality and experience in-depth to contend with. And although they are smarting from the wounds Kobs inflicted on them at the Graveyard last weekend, knowing how ruthless the Pirates can be at the King’s Park arena cannot be alien to them.
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