KCB Lionesses claimed the penultimate round of the exciting Women’s League held at the Kenya Rugby Union Grounds on Sunday June, 7th 2015. This was the Lionesses second triumph, having won the first round in April.
KCB denied the Mwamba ladies a third title on the trot, after beating the ladies in black Mwamba Ladies 22-7. The Lionesses also registered wins over Kenya Harlequins queens, USIU and Nakuru Ladies RFC.
The team, under newly appointed women’s national sevens coach Mike Shamia, was boosted by the returning Kenya international Emily Woods and new addition Immah, the latter making her mark on the tournament. Philadelphia Orlando and Janet ‘Shebesh’ Okello linked up with the new additions alongside the rest of the squad to harass their opposition.
The round 2 and 3 champions Mwamba ladies took second place in the tournament after falling to KCB for the first time in the league. The team is now tied with KCB on points on the overall standings having each picked two titles.
Kulabu Ladies welcomed club and national captain Doreen Remour at fly half but missed the services of winger Damima Duffilied for this round. The team beat USIU 68-0 before also taking down Nakuru RFC and the Quins Queens.
Third placed Kenya Harlequins Queens, had a tough day without their influential coach and skipper Mary Musieka and versatile full back Irene Otieno.
The team that had been run close by Nakuru Ladies in round 3 in an encounter that ended in a 5-5 draw, took back their glory at the dying minutes of their game to claim a 17-14 results. The Quins managed to also take down USIU but failed to make progress with the Mwamba or KCB ladies.
Nakuru Ladies RFC has shown tremendous growth in their game. According to their Team Manager, the team is using the league to grow the game in women in their region, “These ladies train hard and work hard. In good time they will top this league.”
The rift valley side has become a show stopper, with diverse players and a great number of kickers. The team uses its skills to wear out their opposition with their kick and chase play. They however were unable to dominate the games at the weekend, which saw them beat only the USIU side.
The Thika road based University is still on track in growing their players. This evidenced by the team receiving two call ups to the Kenya XV’s provisional side, in their short existence. The team lost all their games, and is currently last on the league table, but has shown great improvement in defense and attack management, with improved urgency and agility in their set pieces.
The last round of league matches is set for July 5th 2015, with KCB and Mwamba tied on points it is bound to be an exciting finish to the inaugural ladies league.
Collated Round 4 Results :
Mwamba 24-0 Quins
USIU 0-65 KCB
Nakuru 14-17 Quins
Mwamba 68-0 USIU
KCB 41-0 Nakuru
Quins 22-0 USIU
Mwamba 45-0 Nakuru
KCB 31-0 Quins
Nakuru 52-0 USIU
Mwamba 7-22 KCB
