Kobs not satisfied with Uganda Rugby Union ruling

Kobs' Byron Oketayot gains territory in the clash with Heathens /Pulse Sports image

RUGBY Kobs not satisfied with Uganda Rugby Union ruling

Ndyamuhaki J Emanzi 09:58 - 12.04.2023

The Union admitted that the referee errored in awarding a penalty try and slapped him with a suspension for the rest of the season.

When Kobs wrote to the Uganda Rugby Union on April 3 2023, they were very categorical in rejecting the result from the Heathens vs. Kobs fixture that was played on April 1.

A letter seen by Pulse Sports highlighted incidents beyond what many are focussing on from that game, and it is from there that the club expected clear answers.

Kobs' chairman Tonny Stone Luggya is unhappy with the ruling made by Uganda Rugby Union regarding the Heathens-Kobs clash /COURTESY PICTURE

"There were 4 missed high tackle offenses 'missed' in the second half when Kobs was attacking the Heathens 22 and AR (assistant referee) raised flag twice but was ignored," part of the letter Kobs sent to the Union, reads.

The club, through its Chairman Tonny Stone Luggya, also highlighted that Ronald Wutimber denied them advantage on several occasions, stopping the team from scoring.

According to Kobs, the yellow card given to Michael Amollo should have come after awarding a penalty try since the winger intentionally slapped the ball to deny Kobs a try-scoring moment.

URU's ruling mainly focussed on the game's final moments, where a penalty was awarded to Heathens and not taken because Kobs players did not clear the field.

The Union admitted that the referee errored in awarding a penalty try and slapped him with a suspension for the rest of the season.

The result, however, stands, albeit minus the bonus points, and that has left more questions than answers.

"Everything has stayed as is with misinterpretation of basic laws and tunnel vision of the last issue (the penalty contentious from video replay and illegally awarding a penalty try), but to go ahead and make score hold on presumption or probability that the penalty would go through is the biggest joke of the whole document," Luggya told Pulse Sports.

"Guess the Union isn't interested in uplifting the sport in line of rugby's core value of integrity and to reason then conclude like so is an attestation to being ok with mediocrity, yet you preach desire to progress to semi-professional spheres," he added.

On April 11 2022, Kobs had written to URU requesting that the referee in question is excused from all their games due to what they termed being 'either biased or incompetent'.

"I don't get the logic. First, we sent other facts on how the referee was biased, but the technical team focused on the last part only claiming the rest are expected referee mistakes or calls.

"So, they negate the biased penalty try he didn't award but rightly so gave a yellow card to Amolo, which is mind-blowing because the last pass from Aredo was sorely ending into a try."

The decision from the Union means that the Heathens will now drop from 59 to 58 points but stay on top of the log with five games left in the season.

Kobs, who have been top of the table for the bigger part of the season, dropped to second, on 56 points and must regroup to negotiate the final bend of the season.

Heathens vs. Pirates and Kobs vs. Pirates are the two games expected to play a big part in deciding where the title ends up.