The Cup Quarter Finals Review.

It feels like forever since I last posted here..well here’s hoping you are all doing fine, let’s get to business.

The semi finalists of the various cup competitions were decided this past weekend with the highlight of the bunch being Mwamba’s 10 try rout of Impala. We’ll get to that in a bit..

Louie in Action against ‘Hawk’ (Photo courtesy of Kulabu)

First the Mwamba cup division II was for another round marred by walk overs, with only one fixture played. Goes to show how badly sponsors are needed especially in the lower leagues. As a result Masaku, Masinde Muliro and Webuye move into the semi finals with the last two facing each other. The only match that did take place was between KCA and JKUAT, the accountants falling 3-17 to their counter parts. JKUAT will now face Masaku in Machakos. Let’s hope the semi final fixtures are honoured as some of these sides have made it this far without picking up a ball.

Masaku w/o Mombasa II

Masinde Muliro w/o Kisii

Webuye w/o Kakamega

KCA 3-17 JKUAT

The first division of the Mwamba cup saw defending champions KCB II march into the semi finals with a 32-13 win over the Catulus of Strathmore. This win sets up a mouth watering semi final clash against the high flying Arturos of Quins who demolished Mwamba II 45-0 in their Quarter final. Other results saw the boks of Impala beat Kisumu II 21-16 at the Kisumu Poly, to set up a semi final clash against last year’s finalists Mombasa SC who had a bye to the semi finals after Nakuru II pulled out of the tourney.

KCB II 32-13 Strathmore II

Quins II 45-0 Mwamba II

Kisumu II 16-21 Impala II

Mombasa SC w/o Nakuru II

The big one came with it’s fare share of surprises, first up the most successful side in Enterprise Cup history the Total Nondies saw off kenya Cup runners up Strathmore 23-18. This one was always going to be a tight one, the last time these two met in the league, Srath edged out the white shirts by a single point. It was time for sweet revenge for the Nondies as they kept the chase for title number 26 alive. This win earns them a home semi against Mwamba.

The second semi saw third seeds KCB (who have been referred to as defending champions in some quarters) battle past a stubborn Homeboyz RFC 26-15 in the ‘father, son derby.’ Homeboyz looked on course to win their first competitive fifteens match against KCB leading 15-13 in the second half before tries from Benjamin Ojema and Collins Wanjala and a Darwin Mukidza penalty ensured that wait would be that much longer. KCB now travel to Nakuru to face the Kenya cup champions, this will be their third visit to the dreaded suguta valley this season.

The third Quarter final in Nakuru saw Quins fall 21-5 to the Menengai Oil Nakuru RFC. Quins had not lost to Nakuru in the last two games, scoring 30+ points in each of those games, both played at the RFUEA. Nakuru were flawless in this one, leading 8-0 at half time before stretching that lead to 21-0 in the second, Quins getting their consolation in the closing stages of the game. I had predicted that whoever was going to win this one will do it by more than 14 points. I think it is time I opened a kibanda to utilise my prophetic talent..

The last quarter final was my pick of the bunch, Mwamba taking on Impala at the University of Nairobi grounds. This match was a contest for a total of 2 minutes, that is the time it took Collins Injera to open the flood gates for the black shirts. From that point it was really one way traffic and if you were an Impala fan at the UoN really painful. Impala were in sixes and sevens, within the first twenty minutes they had already conceded 4 tries, the chu chu train already had his hat trick wrapped up. Though the red shirts did have an attempt at a come back with tries from captain Duncan Ekasi and Mose at 29-14, it was never to be. Mwamba kept on pounding away at the helpless gazelles getting a total of 10 tries at the end of the match. Anthony Oyugi going over for Impala to make it 65-19 at the final whistle.

Collo vs Majei.. (Photo Courtesy of Kulabu)

Collins Injera’s name has been flying around since his suspension by club then country, we all know that he is a special player, we have seen it time and again but this time, this time it was extra special. It was like he was sending out a message and Impala had the unfortunate role of the paper he was writing on. Or maybe he had just missed playing this game..

He capped an exemplary performance by scoring an equal number of tries with the number on his shirt..6.! Yes he played at 6, probably for the first time, you would have never guessed that it was not his natural position. His work rate was super, and much has been said about his attack in this game but his defensive work was also as impressive. After a hat trick in the first quarter, most players would have had enough and probably asked for a sub at half time, I am not sure if he did but he did not deep through out the 80 minutes. 

Collo leaving Mose for dead (Photo Courtesy of Kulabu)

Playing at 6 (Which was a stroke of genius from the technical bench) meant it was that much harder for the Impala defence to pick him up, give him special attention if you may. He popped up from everywhere and with the likes of the Asego brothers in the choreography roles at 10 (Chris) and 13 (Lavin) he had the service he needed. He also created two of the four other tries scored by younger brother Mike Agevi and Patrick Oduong, each with a brace.

It might look like this was a one man show, but no, Kulabu operated like a well oiled machine dominating all facets of play, every break down, they defended well when they called upon to, this was indeed a true team effort…..with a lethal finisher.

Impala’s woes seem to deepen further every time it looks like they have started their path to improvement. This crashing defeat will take them a few steps back in the gains they had made, apart from a short period in the first half that they dominated, they really had nothing going, defensively they were appalling, going forward idea-less. Big losses have one of two effects, they either propel you into better performances or drown you into oblivion, let’s hope it’s the former in this case. Looking at the calendar this defeat couldn’t have come at a better time, it’s virtually the end of the 15’s season for the club with the super series the only tourney left, meaning they have a lot of time to work on the issues.

Strathmore 18-23 Nondies

KCB 26-15 Homeboyz

Nakuru 21-5 Quins

Mwamba 65-19 Impala

I hear that the XVII crew lost to Nondies as they had already started preparations for their favourite tournament that is just around the corner..The Great Rift Tens..hehe, Na Impala Je?

The sevens side to Hong Kong and Japan departed Sunday Afternoon and arrived safely today morning, more on them in the next post…

Finally to all those who play fantasy super rugby on  http://fantasyrugby.udt.co.za/superrugby/restricted/Dashboard.j 
here are a few Kenyan leagues that you can join, it’s virtually the same people but hey, I’m getting tired of beating the same people over and over again!!

OSBK – 18245520174399

S15 KENYA – 19672592265130

With that ladies and gentlemen….have a productive week ahead aaaannnnnnddddd…….

KWISHA…Nimeruka Nje!!!!