It was a weekend of great pride for Kenyan rugby, courtesy of the sevens teams that went out to Dubai. Most of you already know that the Shujaa finished third in the Duabai leg of the HSBC Sevens circuit, what you might have not heard is that the warembo impressively reached the finals of the invitational Dubai sevens.
The team after securing 3rd spot in Dubai (Courtesy of M.O.R) |
Apart from the break down, I think the technical bench will look to improve on the Kicking as it was below par in Dubai, those two points can be very vital.
Mwamba II 66-12 Kakamega
Impala II 16-11 Strathmore II
Nondies II 15-23 KCB II
Homeboyz II 16-8 Nakuru II
Machine II 0-13 Quins II
The second string Kulabu side registering the biggest win in this category against Kakamega who after last weeks win find themselves on the wrong end of a big score again. The Catullus (That is what they call Strath II) losing out to the junior gazelles of Impala, KCB II keeping their unbeaten run going with that bonus win in the battle of the cubs against Nondies II. Nakuru II saw their lossless run grind to a halt at the Ruaraka grounds at the hands of Homeboyz II, the junior Djs posting their first win this season and what a memorable win that was. Quins II kept their grip on the top of the log with that win over Machine II taking them to 24 points. KCB II and Nakuru II follow Quins II on 18 points with KCB II boasting of a superior points tally hence taking second place. The Catullus are on 16 points in 4th with Impala II rounding up the top five three points behind.
The top flight saw very interesting results posted, defending champions Quins failing to win in what looked like a straight forward match against Machine at the UoN grounds. Across town, Impala’s woes seem to have no end as they fell heavily to Strathmore in the stand out results of the weekend, here are the rest :
Mwamba 41-7 Western Bulls
Impala 10-59 Strathmore
Nondies 26-39 KCB
Homeboyz 11-36 Nakuru
Machine 17-17 Quins
Mwamba brought Western Bull’s fairytale run to a screeching halt with that massive 41-7 score, the Echulusi had not lost in 3 and were looking to score another big scalp going into this one, that win sees Kulabu hold on to 5th spot on 18 points.
One thing is for sure, this doesn’t look like Impala’s season..no win in 5 this season, that run stretching to 7 if you consider the Floodies. The gazelles falling to their biggest defeat in recent times at the hands of the Leos. That result continues to embrace the relegation battle, they are now on 2 points in 9th, Strathmore on the other hand jump into second on 21 points.
At the Red Lion, KCB eventually came out on top in what was a gruelling battle of the lions. The game witnessed by world cup winner Butch James of the Springboks was finely poised at 22-20 at the half, before the green lion run out 39-26 winners. This result sees the bankers jump into 3rd on 20 points having played a game less than their counterparts. Nondies are in 10th spot on 6 points.
Nakuru made it two weeks at the top with what was a hard fought win over Homeboyz, the Wanyore are now on a perfect 25 points after 5 matches, managing to score a bonus in every game. Homeboyz failing to build on the impressive win over Quins last weekend but did go down with a fight, the Djs are now on 9 points in 7th place.
At the UoN hosts Mean Machine impressively held defending champions Quins to a 17 all draw. The lunch bars are now without a win in two, and are now in 4th on 19 points. The season is looking much better for Machine after what was a tough start for the Eschuma they are finally finding their feet, they now are on 7 points in 10th spot on the Log.
Looking at the top four, KCB boast of the best attack, averaging 40 points a match, Nakuru are second on an average of 36.6 with Strathmore on 30 flat, Quins round up this category on 29.8 points a match.
Quins have the best defence, conceding an average of 10.4 points a match, followed by Strathmore on 11.8 points, KCB 12.8 and Nakuru who let in 15.6 points a match.
The most porous defence in the league goes to Homeboyz letting in 34.2 points a match, with the most inept attack going to Blakblad who score an average of 9.25 points a game this far.
The league is due to break for the festivities after game week 6, paving way for the inaugural Naivasha 10’s on the 15th. Looking at the Log the battle for the top four play off positions pits 6 sides, these are Western Bulls, Mwamba, Quins, KCB, Strathmore and current leaders Nakuru. On the other end of the league Impala find themselves in the thick of things 2 points off the bottom having played a game more than Blad who hold last spot and two more than Kisumu (1) in 11th. Nondies are 4 points clear of the red shirts in 9th, they are 7 points off 7th and will have to pull off something special to finish better than they did last season.
In my salamz corner, belated birthday greetings to a man I will always refer to as Captain Teddy Salano of Nondies who celebrated his birthday over the weekend.
Back to Dubai, I will like to leave you with an image of pure beauty..it can only get better!! Oh by the way you do know Collo finished as top try scorer right?
With that ladies and Gentlemen have a productive week ahead aaaannnnnnddddd……
KWISHA….Nimeruka Nje!!!!