When all is said and done, when we are old and worn out, telling exaggerated tales of our great times to whoever would care to listen, memories of 2015 will probably be restricted to those two or three months, when the Lion reigned supreme!
If they do have the internet then, and this space is still available, I hope that you will refer to this piece to walk you down the memory of this great year.
The year kicked off with Kenya Cup match day 7, the Strathmore Leos were top of the log, alongside Nakuru and KCB they were the only unbeaten sides this far.
The story of the month however belonged to Kabras, who after opening the season with losses to KCB and Nakuru, had picked up a head of steam and were now contenders for a play off spot. Wins over Impala, Western Bulls (in the first Kakamega derby) in January saw them remain in contention, despite losses to Nondies and Mwamba.
Other highlights saw the Leos lose their first match, 18-15 to Homeboyz RFC, to finish the month in 3rd. KCB finishing top after that historic 74-15 thrashing of Quins, Nakuru were second.
February – Separate the Men from the Boys.
The shortest month of the year confirmed the 4 play off slots in the top flight, Kabras had completed a first, claiming a semi final slot in their debut season.
7-5, 27-10 and 61-24 wins over Homeboyz, Quins and Strathmore respectively in this month ensured that they finished 4th. Nakuru finished the league phase top with the only 100% record after beating KCB 23-20, the Lions were 2nd with the Leos 3rd.
The semi finalists in the Eric Shirley shield were Kabras II, Impala II, KCB II and Nakuru II, in the Nationwide Thika RFC, Eldoret RFC, Bungoma Sharks and Egerton University were a game away from booking Kenya Cup promotion. To replace the Catholic Monks and Mombasa RFC who had been relegated.
Internationally, the Kenya 7s played leg 3 and 4 of the HSBC World sevens series in Wellington and Las Vegas. This was to be the sides best outing of the season, collecting a total of 18 points following a plate semi final in Wellington and a Bowl title in Vegas.
It was also in this month that we lost former Kenya International and KCB front row Franklin ‘Stooge’ Amiani.
After four months of battle in three leagues, it was finally time to crown the champions. In the Nationwide, Thika RFC beat Egerton 26-8 with Bungoma Sharks claiming a 24-10 result over Eldoret to book tickets to the top flight now there was the small matter of the 2014/15 champion.
In the ESS, KCB II beat Kabras II 15-9, with Impala II beating Nakuru II 12-7 to book final slots.
The Kenya cup semi finals hosted at the NAC, were probably the best pair of matches played this year. Having lost 13-10 in the league phase, Kabras would turn the scores round twice to claim a historic 15-12 result and book a final slot.
Trailing 21-14 with little time to play KCB would claim a 24-21 result off Curtis Lilako’s try and Darwin Mukidza’s boot.
It was time to crown the leagues’ champions, on the 14th at the RFUEA, first up was the ESS champions 2014/15, where the Impala Boks beat the KCB cubs 29-10. Up next Thika picked up the Nationwide title with a 13-11 result of Bungoma Sharks.
KCB ended their 8 year wait for league glory, and Kabras’ fairy tale with a convincing 27-3 result. Nakuru finished the season 3rd after beating the Leos 21-15.
It was soon time for knock out rugby as we winded down the month of March with the Mwamba cup divisions and Enterprise cup pre-quarter finals.
Kabras failed to get to the quarter finals, losing 39-30 to Quins in the highlight of the qualifiers, there were also wins for Homeboyz, Strathmore and Western Bulls who beat Mwamba 19-12.
KCB were lucky to get past Quins in the quarter finals,registering a 13-8 result, with the highlight of this stage being Homeboyz 13-11 result against Nakuru at the once dreaded Suguta Valley. Strathmore beat Nondies 20-5, with Impala beating the Bulls 37-23.
The Kenya 7s won the Shield title in the 40th edition of the Hong Kong 7s, with a 26-7 win over Japan. The silver lining was the return of Humphrey Kayange and more importantly Lavin Asego’s milestone in becoming the 10th player to hit more than 1,000 points in the series’ history.
It was the month we finally saw the much awaited women’s league kick off with KCB winning the first of 4 legs. The league would be played in a 10-a-side format, with opening leg pitting a total of 5 sides in Mwamba, Nakuru, Quins, USIU and KCB.
The Nakuru ladies went on to win the women’s category of the 26th edition of the Great Rift 10-a-side tournament as their male counterparts ended a 20 year drought to make it an all home affair on the winners’ podium.
The cup competitions were now in the semi final stage, KCB beat Impala 25-15 to book a final showdown against the Homeboyz who beat Strathmore 15-13 at the Lion’s den in Ruaraka.
The Mwamba cup division 1 title would be battled out for by Kabras II who beat Impala II 21-16 in Kakamega and KCB II who beat Blak Blad 22-12 in Ruaraka. The division II title would see Impala III battle MKU THika, with the baby boks successfully defending that title with a 20-17 result.
Kabras II had to wait till after extra time to lift the Mwamba Cup division 1 title, courtesy of a 25-15 result against the KCB cubs. Kbras were trailing 15-5 at some point late in the second half of this encounter.
The Lions wrapped up the league and cup double with a 28-0 blanking of the DJs in the enterprise cup final later in the day.
Western Bulls piled the misery on the DJs further, when they ensured that the Homeboyz go for another year without lifting their home tournament, the Nairobi 10s. The Bulls winning 15-0 in a rain soaked final.
The Mwamba ladies picked up the ladies category courtesy of a 14-7 result over the Quins Queens in the final.
It was more of the same for the Kenya 7s as they bowed out at the Shield semi finals in Tokyo. We however beat the USA 27-5 in the pool stages, thought that will make it better, no?
May – The Lion makes a statement
With the domestics done with it was time to get ready for national team duty, the Simbas had for the first time secured several incoming tours to be played in the next 3 months, first up was Portugal.
Before their arrival, the women’s league played out its second leg at the Lion’s den in ruaraka with Mwamba taking this one, beating KCB in the final.
The Kenya 7s finished the 2014/15 season in 13th spot on 46 points after bowing out in the Bowl semi finals to Argentina in Glasgow, only to avenge that with a 26-12 win against the same opponents in the London 7s Bowl final. That Bowl title was a welcome reprieve, after we almost lost to Brazil in the pool stages on day one.
When head coach Jerome Paarwater named his match day 23 to take on Portugal at the RFUEA, he had listed 6 players who were lining up for their first full caps. Among them the whole back three in Jacob Ojee, Darwin Mukidza and Sammy Oliech. These three names remained a highlight through out the Simbas campaign.
Being the first European side to play a test at the RFUEA in half a century, 23rd ranked Portugal couldn’t have predicted what was in store for them, neither could we. A convincing 41-15 full time result sent shock waves across the rugby world, the Lion had made its statement. That win saw us get into the top 30 rugby playing nations in the world at 29th.
June usually comes with our now watered down annual battle for the Mount Elgon, this year was no different. With Kenya A and the Lionesses both defending the titles they won the previous year.
The women’s league played out it’s penultimate leg with KCB picking up this one, the favourites having both won two legs this one was going to the wire.
The first leg of the Elgon cup was played out at the RFUEA, with the Kenya Lionesses playing to a 5 all draw against the Uganda Lady Cranes. The men’s category saw Kenya A take a narrow 20-17 result into the second leg.
While this was happening, the Simbas opened their Africa cup campaign with a 28-20 loss to Zimbabwe in Harare.
The Kenya Lionesses successfully defended their Elgon cup title with a 7-6 result in Kampala for a 12-11 aggregate score. It has to be said that the Lionesses had very little in terms of preparations for this one, the league played a key role here.
The gents were not as lucky, going down 30-25 and relinquishing the Elgon cup title courtesy of a 45-47 aggregate score.
The last business in the month of June was the second encounter in the Simba’s Africa cup campaign, at home against Tunisia. This one had a lot riding on it, first was 1A status and any hopes of lifting the African title. After that loss to Zimbabwe we had slipped to 30th, we needed to remain in the top 30.
We again rose to the occasion and were in imperious form, as we blinded the Tunisians 46-15 in the Sunday test. The Lion was intent on making it’s statement loud and clear.
The Mwamba ladies picked up the inaugural women’s league title after winning round 5, no prizes here for guessing who they beat in the final.
This was one of those boring months, with very little rugby action, but there was the small issue of wrapping up the incoming tours against Los Leones (the Lions) of Spain, who were ranked 20th in the world.
It was going to be our toughest test yet, Los Leones had beaten Namibia on their way here, they were in great form. But so were their hosts who had won 2 in 3, on the 18th of July there could be only one lion left standing.
This one lived up to every word in its billing, after a cagey opening the Simbas were leading 10-6 courtesy of Darwin Mukidza’s brace. Before we were treated to a try that we all hope we see more often but know we wont.
The locks Ronnie Mwenesi combining with Oliver Mang’eni for a coast to coast try, with the latter showing a great set of twinkle toes to score making it 17-3 at the break.
The Simbas would go on to claim a 36-27 result in a second half that can only be described as the best 40 minutes of international rugby, the RFUEA has witnessed in quite a while. Kweli simba ni mmoja, That result saw us move into 28th spot on the world rankings.
Sevens season was once again here with us, this year we kicked off at the Christie 7s and would conclude the five leg series at the Kabeberi 7s.
The Simbas would wrap up their 2015 calendar in Windhoek against Namibia in an Africa cup tie. This one served as a wake up call just in case the home results had made their way to our heads as we were beaten 46-13. Despite that loss, we could still be very proud of our display in 2015, 3 wins out of 5 was a handsome return.
The Kenya Harlequin picked up their home tournament thanks to a 19-0 win over KCB in the final, the KCB Lionesses picked up the ladies title with Quins II lifting the division II title.
Up next was the Dala sevens, which saw Nakuru RFC lift their first sevens title, edging Quins 15-14 in a nail biting final. The Catholic Monks lifting the division II title.
We went into the break weekend with this shaping up to being the most competitive series we have seen in a while. Nakuru were top on 41 points, with Quins on 35, below them any of these KCB (32), Strathmore (29), Mwamba (27), Nondies and Impala (25) could lift the series title.
The break weekend saw 16 sides participate in the first U-18 sevens with COMRAS taking home the crown after beating Nakuru U-18 14-3.
The sevens caravan made its way to Mombasa for the Driftwood sevens at the Mbaraki Sports club for the first time. Despite literally running from the airport straight to the grounds for their first match, Mwamba RFC picked up the Driftwood title at the end of day 2, beating Nakuru 29-0.
After the senior side had finished 3rd in the Africa Cup it was Chipu’s turn to play in the U-19 division 1A. A narrow 25-17 loss to Zimbabwe followed by a 21-5 win over Uganda saw the junior side match the senior’s run, finishing 3rd and more importantly securing top flight status.
It was also during this month that the Kenya Lionesses traveled to Dublin to take a stab at becoming a core side in the women’s sevens series. Unfortunately they missed out on the sole ticket, settling for the Bowl title a marked improvement for the ladies.
Back home, it was time for the penultimate leg of the sevens series, we so far had 3 different winners and were in Nakuru for the Prinsloo 7s to maybe crown a fourth.
With the series firmly in their sight, Nakuru RFC couldn’t afford to put a foot wrong at home. The wanyore did not disappoint, delivering a gritty 7-5 result in the cup final against Homeboyz to all but seal their first ever series title.
September – Lionesses Road To Rio
It was the Lionesses month of reckoning, everything they had worked for would culminate in the Olympic qualifiers in Johannesburg.
It was also the month all rugby fans had been waiting for, for the last four years with the 2015 Rugby world cup kicking off on 18th September.
Before that we crowned the 2015 sevens series champions Nakuru RFC, who finished fourth at the Kabeberi 7s, losing 12-0 to Kabras. Mwamba picked the Kabeberi title after beating Impala 26-22 in a thrilling final.
Nakuru garnered a total of 91 points over the five legs, Mwamba coming in second on 81 points, Quins (75), Strathmore (73) and Impala (69) wrapped up the top 5.
In Johannesburg the Lionesses blew past everyone in the field, comfortably making the cup final against South Africa, where they were beaten 31-5. The Lionesses were now headed to the Repechage to seek Olympic qualification, or so we thought.
There were rumours that South Africa would not take their women’s sevens side to the Olympics, because of financial constraints or rather because they did not believe the side could challenge for medals.
Whatever the reason was, thse rumours were confirmed later in the year and the Lionesses were handed the African ticket to Rio 2016. So much for the Olympic spirit South Africa..anyway Rio here we come!
October – Was that a Safari Sevens?
After the rugby super series failing to take off earlier in the year, most had expected the 20th edition of the Safari sevens to follow suit. What with sponsors ‘stepping aside’ thanks to our wrangles there was very little hope.
Despite all the odds though, the 20th edition of the Safari 7s did take place, on the pitch it was a 2 day show of spectacular rugby with 14 international sides gracing the 16 team tournament. Off it, it was a sore sight of empty seats.
The Samurai lifted the Robin Cahill trophy after beating the Kenya Shujaa 20-19 in a super cup final. It was the first time we were seeing the new Kenya 7s under the tutelage of Benjamin Ayimba, and we loved what we saw, the Morans lifted the Bowl title with Western Province finishing 3rd, beating Zimbabwe. The English Saxons picked up the Plate title with Zambia taking home the Shield.
It was great to see the likes of Frank Wanyama, Nelson Oyoo, Brian Tanga, David Kivuti, Jeff and Don Oluoch, Geoffrey Ominde and Fidel Castro get a run out in national colours.
The 34th edition of the Impala Floodlit took center stage, with KCB claiming their 3rd title in a row, beating hosts Impala 26-14. Laiser Hill rounded up an impressive year by winning the schools’ category after beating Ofafa Jericho 24-7. USIU upset pre-match favourites Strathmore to the Universities title beating them 30-20.
On the same day, the All blacks became the first side in history to lift the Webb Ellis trophy back to back after outclassing the Wallabies 34-17.
Before we could kick off the 2015/16 Kenya cup, there was the small matter of the inaugural Titans cup, to be battled out between two giants of the game, KCB and Nakuru.
In the build up to this match, Quins beat Homeboyz 32-12, before Nakuru held on for a 33-29 result to lift the Titans cup and the KES 200,000 prize it came with.
At this point, the Lionesses qualification to Rio had not been confirmed, so it was up to the Shujaa to carry the nation’s hopes to the Olympic qualifiers in Johannesburg.
Like the ladies did at the same venue, the Shujaa blew past everyone to comfortably make the cup final, against Zimbabwe. What followed next without a doubt, by far the most nerve racking 20 minutes of 2015.
After a cagey start, the Shujaa were first on the board through Andrew Amonde for a 7-0 lead, things were going according to script. This was before the Cheetahs scored to quick tries to make it 12-7 at the breather, we were still in it.
The second half burst into life late on as Collins Injera went over to make it 14-12, we were back on the road to Rio.
That was before an intercepted pass saw us thrown off that road with precious seconds left on the clock, with the score at 17-14, then this happened…
Back home the new format Kenya cup kicked off with Quins claiming the Ngong road bragging rights with a 29-22 win, following this up with a 19-17 win over Kabras the following weekend.
It was also in this month that we lost rugby’s greatest of all time, Jonah Lomu.
December – And now we are here..
The Kenya 7s kicked off their 2015/16 World sevens series in promising style in Dubai, where despite bowing out in the Bowl semi finals they had put in some great displays. The Lionesses picked up the bowl title in women’s invitational tournament.
A week later the Shujaa turned promise to result, along with their fortunes, to finish fourth in Cape town, they are now in 9th spot on 20 points, 15 behind leaders Fiji.
If the Kenya cup were to end now, Kenya Harlequins will be crowned champions, let that sink in. The Quin is the only unbeaten side in the league this far, this one is shaping up to be one of the most competitive leagues yet.
We have only done 5 weeks but Strathmore have beaten KCB, Impala beat Mwamba then Nakuru, Homeboyz beat Nakuru, Mwamba beat Strathmore and Kabras have so far struggled to match last season’s run.
Quins are on 23 points, 1 ahead of KCB with Impala in 3rd on 21 points, Strathmore round up the top four with 19 points, tied with Homeboyz.
That it was a blockbuster year is clear for everyone to see, yes we did have our moments off the pitch, but we always found a way to keep the important bit going, the game! Here is to an even better 2016!
I can not finish without mentioning my player of the year 2015.
Some say he can kick a rugby ball through a needle’s hole, others say he can safely catch a comet, straight from his slumber..
What is beyond doubt though is that in 2015, he was that guy, Darwin ‘the magician’ Mukidza!
And now, for the last time in 2015…
KWISHA…Nimeruka Nje!!!
