It is again that time of the year when Nakuru transforms into the rugby capital of the nation albeit for a weekend, ladies and gents it is time for the 24th edition of the Menengai Oil Great rift ten a side tournament.
Or ‘Safari sevens ya Nakuru’ as I have just heard it being refered to in some quarters.
In store, is two days of the best 10 a side action you can possibly find South of the Sahara and North of the Limpopo.
This year’s edition sees 24 sides battle it out for the overall title that has been previously won by seven different sides from Barclays RFC in 1990 to defending champions the Strathmore Leos. Impala lead the title count, winning on seven occasions, 4 of those titles coming between 98 and 2001, the others coming in 2004, 06 and 07. Nondies are joint second with the Leos on the overall winners log on 4 titles, Quins and Nakuru are tied with 3 titles to their name, Mwamba and the defunct Barclays RFC complete the list on two titles each.
This year’s pools are as follows:
Pool A:Strathmore Leos, Eldoret, USIU, Masaku.
Pool B:Menengai Oil Nakuru, KCA, Egerton, Total Nondies.
Pool C: Impala, KCB, Multimedia, Masinde Muliro.
Pool D:Western Bulls, Homeboyz, Catholic university, Moi university.
Pool E:Mwamba, Mean Machine, Daystar University, Technical University of Kenya.
Pool F: Blak Blad, Lunch bar Quins, Comras, Thika.
The defending champions should not have a problem navigating through Pool A, the same can be said of last year’s losing finalists and hosts Wanyore, that is assuming that Nondies will again be a no show this year. If however they do show up, Pool B might get a little more competitive.
The competition proper starts from Pool C where the most successful side in the tournament’s history, Impala will battle it out with KCB for top spot. Six pools means that all the 24 teams will most probably be ranked at the end of day one, to determine the eight that will play in the cup quarter final, or they could take the pool leaders and two best runners up. Either way the battles in Pools C-F look to be the highlight of day 1.
There’s no clear pool of death among these four, with two evenly matched sides in each pool it will come down to who wins the last matches of the day and who scores more points against the ‘smaller’ sides.
Last year’s Bowl winners Homeboyz will have their work cut out for them in Pool D where they are re united with Western Bulls a side that beat them 24-14 last year.
2012 Plate winners Mwamba face off with Mean Machine the two have been mainstays in the cup quarter finals over the years and will look to keep this run going.
Blad find themselves in the same pool as Quins for the second year running in Pool F. We can now finally put to bed the issue of the walk over last year, where Blad were handed a walk over against Quins. Blad later bragged that they would have beaten Quins out rightly..
The Leos are clear favourites going into this one, 4 titles back to back, though two of those were shared. The Leos will probably be in competition against a team that is not even in the 24, and that is Impala’s great side of 98 to ’01. They will be in battle against that side in more than one front, first that Impala side won the tournament 4 times in a row, the Leos will be going for the fifth back to back title, looking to become the first 5-peat (if there’s a word like that) champions in the tournament’s history. The Leos already matched Impala’s run of not conceding a point over the two days, they will probably be going to for the next feat that team achieved. Which is, winning the tournament without committing a single handling error. Yes that Impala side managed that, now I’m not sure if the weather in 98 was the same as is today but with global warming and all I bet it did rain twice as much as it does now, clearly showing the quality that was in that Impala side. Can the disciplined students match that?
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| The Leos after last year’s win. |
This tournament has always been a Leo’s favourite and speaking to head coach Mitch Ocholla in an interview for the tournament magazine, Mojo by the way was part of that Impala 98 side. He reckons that Nakuru is a second home for his side having started their journey here in 2005 where they only managed a single win. He also mentions that the tens format favoured them in 98 as it does this Leos side because unlike 15’s it lets them express their athletic talent. You can read the full interview in the tournament magazine.
Potential party crashers for the Leos will be Quins, KCB and Impala, I have not mentioned Mwamba and the hosts because the little matter of a cup final might be a great cause of distraction leading to the probable fielding of second string sides by the two. This however presents a tricky situation for the hosts who have been in red hot form this season and will want to win everything on offer especially in front of the home faithful. So do they risk a few regulars and go the cup full throttle or do they play it safe with reserves and hope for the best?
The first two in my list of challengers have been faced with such a dilemma especially in the last edition where they decided to go with development sides and have performed poorly by their standards, Quins losing in the Plate Semi and KCB in the Bowl final. These two have blowing hot and cold so far this season and will be looking to get this one and end the clubs season with a bang.
Impala despite all have always had a good run in the 10’s, I don’t expect that to change this year for last year’s losing semi finalists. I should say narrow losers as they went down 21-19 to the hosts. The red shirts probably need this trophy more than anyone in the 24, after another season to forget, then there’s the 65..they really do need this one.
The other teams that might have a claim to the title are Homeboyz, who have shown a lot of promise in the past, could this be the year that they finally get to realise this potential? Last year Blak Blad surprised many making it to the Plate Final where they narrowly lost 7-5 to Mwamba, this after having beaten KCB on day 1 with a similar score. Though the personnel in the team might have changed in the last year the spirit in the team remains a constant. The final side in this wild card list and probably the best of the lot, is Western Bulls. The Echulusi have exploded onto the scene this season and performed really well, they will be looking to play with the big boys here. Last year they were probably the surprise package of the tournament, losing 22-0 in the Cup Semi finals to the eventual winners. The Echulusi have already won the Eldoret tens this year and though not half as competitive as this will be, they will have a slight edge over most.
The battle of the Shield has always been a dog fight, last year USIU came out on top of the pile, this year they should face stiff competition from fellow universities namely, Catholic university, the Chairman’s league champions, Nationwide runners up, Egerton who they beat 19-10 in last year’s final, the Chairman’s league runners up Daystar and TUK. It will be interesting to see how the Comras and Masaku perform in their maiden appearances in the tournament after both making great starts in the leagues.
I wont make any predictions but one thing is almost guaranteed, Strathmore will at some point meet their favourite whooping boys in this tournament, the hosts and I see a revenge of the Kenya Cup Final on the cards. The Wanyore have not managed to beat the Leos in this tournament since 2005, losing 7-5 in ’06, 7-0 in ’07, the two never met in ’08 but were at it again in ’09 where the Leos won 5-0, then 14-5 in ’10, they couldn’t be separated in ’11 before winning the final 12-0 last year.
On the sidelines, apart from the usual pomp and colour will be a chance for you to show just what a big family Kenya Rugby is. I have mentioned Lyle Asiligwa here before, countless times for his performances for the Lunch Bar Quins. Once though it has been because of her mum who is suffering from Breast Cancer. Since then many have come out to support the Asiligwas, and consequently she has been flown to India for further treatment where she still as at the moment, but more is needed to keep her there and complete the treatment.
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| Mama Lyle. |
There’s going to be a funds drive over the two days in Nakuru to raise the amounts needed, so here’s a personal appeal. Most of you are geared up to have the times of their lives, there’s absolutely no problem with that, all I am asking for is 100 bob on each day you’ll be there, that’s an average of 200 (barely a beer) per person that is reading this. Assuming that I get at least 500 hits on this post, that is 100,000 from you my readers and I know you are generous guys so give more than the 200 by all means. For those who wont be in Nakuru, MPESA your contributions to 0725665128..Thank you.
Let’s help the Asiligwas smile once again..here’s a link to a short video of Mama Lyle thanking you for the support so far…Be blessed as you all give generously.
Finally Ladies and Gents, have fun and have it responsibly, drive safely and don’t do anything that I wouldn’t do. Okay that’s probably a very wide range of options on the table there so lets put it this way…Don’t do anything that you have never seen me do. (Most of you have never seen me anyway hehe). Let’s leave Nakuru the same way we came, unmarried and with all body parts firmly attached !
With that have a memorable one for all the right reasons, all the very best to the participating teams aaaaaannnnnnnnddddddddd…………
KWISHA…..NIMERUKA NJE!!!!!
