The second circuit of the 2025 National 7s Series, Gulu 7s, came to a conclusion on Sunday and of course, there were some winners and losers. The Buffaloes and Avengers came out on top in the men’s and women’s categories, respectively, while the defending champions, Heathens and Thunderbirds, could only manage a 9th and 2nd place finish, respectively. The Walukuba Barbarians had gone unbeaten in the 2025 National 7s Series until they reached the Gulu 7s final. The Buffaloes played a clinical game, quelling all the advances from the Barbarians, defending with heart and staying in the game for the full 14 minutes. The Barbarians, on the other hand, seemed to be rushing through their paces, turning over possession through unforced handling errors, ultimately giving the Buffaloes some breathing space. The game ended 00-05 to the Buffaloes, courtesy of a Fat Moses unconverted try. In the women’s category, the Walukuba Titans managed another podium finish in extra time sudden death when the 3rd place playoff ended in a tie after 14 minutes. The losers of that game, the Black Pearls, are a team that are only finding their groove now, improving from a disastrous show at the Coronation 7s. The clear favourites, the Thunderbirds, made it to the final and hoped to retain their Gulu 7s title, but it wasn’t to be. Every attempt they made to win the final was met with an equal and bigger response from the Avengers. The Thunderbirds went ahead with an unconverted try, but the Avengers cancelled that out and went two points ahead through a beautiful Maimuna Nassozi conversion from the touchline. Nassozi wasn’t done yet. Employing some quick thinking, she scratched at scored a five-pointer, then went ahead to slot in an equally tough conversion. The Thunderbirds responded through a Comfort Angayika try, with Janat Nandudu opting not to attempt the conversion but go straight to the restart. All these spirited efforts were a little too late as the clock went into the red zone and the game ended 14-20 in favour of the Entebbe ladies. The National 7s series now takes a break next weekend, making room for the Uganda All Stars versus the Irish Blackrock College RFC 15s game that Saturday at Kyadondo Rugby Grounds.