As most were glued to their T.V sets following day two proceedings in the London sevens, or reminiscing on the Kenya Cup and Eric Shirley Semi Finals that were played the day before, a little piece of history was being scribbled at the R.F.U.E.A grounds.
Arguably the most successful side in school’s rugby, The Nairobi School’s Patch Machine was playing Laiser Hill in a Prescott cup relegation match. The Prescott cup is the country’s most prestigious tournament in the schools category. First contested in 1967, the tournament is played among the top eight sides in the country.
Though the sides Prescott history is not it’s most impressive, it has never reached these lows. Over the last 25 years, the Patch Machine has only managed 5 finals, winning 2, their latest triumph coming in 2007. What they miss here, they more than make up for in the other tournaments where their dominance over the years is unmatched.
The school has been one of the greatest sources of the country’s best players, and a true testimony to how the odd shaped ball can transform lives. The world wide web does not have enough space to list all those names from over a century ago. The Patch Machine has been at the very top draw of Schools rugby since time immemorial.
The rain started hitting this rugby giant in 2008, after the school enjoyed two of their best years in the last decade. In 2006 and 2007 the Patch machine only failed to pick up the Sevens title, losing in the final to Kakamega.
Since then, titles have been few and far in between, the side started falling, and fast. The team was losing it’s giant status, teams no longer feared stepping onto the ‘main samba’ (Patch Machine’s home ground). This slide culminated into last year, where Patch Machine for the first time in the tournament’s 47 year history finished last in the Prescott Cup. This meant that the side was one step away from relegation.
The side was to meet the Damu Pevu winners Laiser Hill in a relegation match, the match was to be played sometime last year, Nairobi School never showed up for the match. They finally decided to show up on Sunday, after hosting the national sevens qualifiers on Saturday.
The Patch Machine were never in this one, trailing 17-5 at half time before losing 27-10 to the Rongai side. Meaning that this year’s Prescott Cup will for the first time in it’s history not feature the once mighty Patch machine. As a result, the side’s second string team that used to take part in the Damu Pevu will be eliminated from the competition.
It however is not all doom and gloom for the side, as the side recently represented the Metropolitan region which includes Nairobi, Machakos, Makueni and Kajiado regions in the National 15s games. Where they failed to make it to the semi finals after losing to eventual champions St. Peter’s Mumias 10-6 and Menengai by a similar score in Pool A.
Even at their worst the Patch machine has managed to salvage some pride in the age old rivalry against Lenana School. The side beat the Mean Maroon in the Metropolitan final to book that ticket to the national games.
Goes without saying that this year’s side first task should be getting back into the Prescott cup. That will be easier said than done, as competition in the Damu Pevu will be tough, secondly the school’s administration seems to have given the sport a cold shoulder.
It will be up to the old boys to handle the administration and hope the current side can put things straight. Otherwise as an Old Cambrian, we need to start looking for new hobbies, like burying our heads in the sand…
KWISHA…Nimeruka Nje!!!