With action from Japan to South Africa, this past weekend had no shortage of rugby action…
Mwamba Cup II
The second division Mwamba Cup played out their quarter finals, with TUK narrowly beating USIU 17-15 to book a semi final slot against Impala III who benefited from a walk over result against TUM.
Shieywe will play Masinde Muliro in the other semi final after 24-0 results against Kakamega and the University of Eldoret respectively.
USIU 15-17 TUK
TUM 0-24 Impala III
Kakamega 0-24 Shieywe
Masinde Muliro 24-0 UoE
Mwamba Cup
Defending champions, KCB cubs kept their title defence alive with a commanding 36-7 win against Nakuru II at the den. The Cubs will meet Nondies II who beat Daystar 31-12 at the Jamuhuri grounds.
Western Bulls II will host the Monks from CUEA after they were awarded the win against Mwamba II after their opponents walked out with the calves leading 18-10. The Monks on their part had to battle past Eldoret, 15-10 to set up this clash.
KCB ll 36-7 Nakuru ll
Nondies ll 31-12 Daystar
W. Bulls ll 18-10 Mwamba ll
Eldoret 10-15 Catholic
Enterprise Cup
With KCB’s semi final against Impala postponed to the 29th, there was only one fixture on the cards in the Enterprise Cup, Nakuru vs Nondies at the NAC.
Last year’s runners up made sure that they will have another shot at the title with a 38-10 win here. The Wanyore were in the driving seat through out this fixture, leading 10-5 at the break before opening the flood gates to post that final score.
Nakuru will enjoy a break this coming weekend as they await their opponent for this year’s final.
Nakuru 38-10 Nondies
Tokyo 7s
After failing to make it to the cup competition in the last two legs, Tokyo was the last place we would want to be playing. The Japanese capital has never been a good hunting ground for the side over the years. Last year we could only manage a Bowl Semi final, which was an improvement from the previous year where we were Shield Finalists.
The side started off on a strong note against South Africa, leading 7-5 going into the break, before the South African’s class showed as they went on to beat us 26-12. It was a great performance from the side, especially at the break down with zero errors in this match, we probably were guilty of not making the most of our chances.
The second match saw more of the positives and a result to match our efforts, as we ran out 24-7 winners against Argentina. After leading 12-0 at the break, the South Americans were first on the board and were back in the match.
But the side managed to score twice after some great changes by technical bench that ensured this win. It is always great to see the impact from the subs, an element that I feel we are getting stronger at.
The last day 1 match saw us battle past a spirited Japan side 12-7 to ensure qualification to the cup quarter finals for the first time in Tokyo. Surprisingly, this was our toughest match of the three, with the hosts refusing to go down easily, and forcing us into several errors that they fortunately failed to punish.
Day 2 saw us face eventual winners, Fiji in the second quarter final, going into the break tied at 12 all we had a fighting chance. That man Viri Viri would hand his side a 17-12 lead before Amonde went over to give us a 19-17 lead. That was the last time Kenya were in that match, for the next 5 minutes we were handed a lesson or two in sevens rugby, especially on how brutal this series is.
Four tries and three conversions by the Islanders handed them a 43-19 result, bringing our cup charge to a halt. It was one of those scores that do not offer a true reflection of the match, but at the same time shows how narrow the margins in this sport are.
This loss set up a Plate semi final against Australia in the Plate Semi final, a 36-0 defeat saw us bow out of the Tokyo 7s with 10 series points in the bag. Those points see our total shoot to 57, and places us 7th, two points behind Samoa and a point ahead of Argentina.
Up next, Hong Kong, where we are pooled alongside Fiji, Wales and Sri Lanka in Pool A.
Kenya 12-26 SA
Kenya 24-7 Argentina
Kenya 12-7 Japan
Kenya 19-43 Fiji
Kenya 0-36 Australia
Vodacom Cup
The third match for the Tusker Simba XVs at the Vodacom Cup was also the first away encounter. After a gruelling 20 hour trip by road the side arrived in East London on Friday morning, home of the Border Bulldogs.
The Simba XVs were looking for their second win in the competition with the Bulldogs looking for their first win this season. Fabian Olando would go over for the Simbas first try, after a brilliant 75 meter run, Andola adding the extras to give the side a 7-0 lead.
The hosts would however quickly get back into the match with a converted try of their own to see the sides go into the break tied at 7 all. Mugaisi would dart over for the second try, his third in the tournament and give the Simbas a 14-7 lead in the opening stages of the second half.
A bulldog’s penalty immediately after would narrow that lead to 14-10, before Andola restored the seven point cushion from a penalty to make it 17-10. A second penalty from the hosts saw that gap slashed to 4 points once again with a little over 20 minutes to play.
The hosts would go over for the second try of the match, to hand them the lead for the first time in it with the score board reading 17-18. Despite the visitors efforts the bulldogs held on for that narrow win. The Simbas earn a losing bonus point from this encounter that sees them in 6th spot in the Southern Conference with 5 points.
Up next for the Tusker Simba XV is Boland Cavaliers at our Cape town home, the Cavaliers lie bottom of the conference with 0 points.
Tusker Simba XV 17-18 Border Bulldogs
In other happenings, Friday saw the sandy town of Watamu host Kenya’s first Rugby league match, between a Kenya select side and an Italian select side. The Kenya side doing well to beat their visitors, (but this being Malindi, the Italians should be referred to as the hosts, right?) 34-24.
It is bound to be another action packed weekend with the double charge in Hong Kong, the Mwamba Cup division one and two semi finals and the remaining Enterprise Cup semi final.
KWISHA…Nimeruka Nje!!!
