Saturday

Thousand Hills 14-13 Buffaloes Carlos Isimbi was the star of the day as his three well-converted penalties helped Thousand Hills to a narrow 14-13 victory against Remera Buffaloes in the national rugby league over the weekend at Gatenga Youth Centre ground.

It was an interesting game and equally challenging for the defending champions Thousand Hills given the pool of experienced players on the opposition side.

The five-time league champions Remera Buffaloes were dominant in the pack and had experienced players like Aboul Ngango, Benjamin Akami Makombe, Julien Muba, Patrick Kazungu and Gerard Niyoneza in the starting team.

Before the break, Thousand Hills conceded a penalty, which was converted by Jean Paul Hajali after new Burundian recruit Pasteur Boyayo had fouled attacker Makombe.

Boyayo responded quickly scoring a try after three phases in the Buffaloes half but it was not successfully converted.

Buffaloes continued to attack using their forward Gerard Niyoneza but it was more like digging on a rock as Thousand Hills were solid in defence. Buffaloes’ Aime Ndahirwa fooled Isimbi, who stepped up to take the penalty in the Buffaloes’ 10m area to make it 11-8 at the half time break.

Pressure mounted on both teams and 20 minutes into the second half Niyoneza scored a try to hand the Buffaloes 13-11 lead.

The home team got a scrum five metres to the Buffaloes scoring line. Isimbi made a drop kick after receiving a pass from Serge Shema in the last minute to make the final score 14-13.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw