This encounter was billed as a ‘must win game’ for hosts Nakuru RFC, who had come into the weekend sitting in 7th spot, 2 points and a slot behind the play off positions.
Their opponents, the in form Quins, had only lost a single game this far. For the trip they picked one of, if not the strongest 23 they have fielded in a long while. As much as this was a must win for Nakuru, a close look at the table showed that this was an equally crucial game for the visitors.
Last time they had made the trip to Nakuru, the Quin was drubbed 41-10, surely this was the moment of redemption for the visitors.
The game kicked off under the scorching sun at the NAC, with Quins taking it to the Nakuru forwards in the opening exchanges. For their efforts they won a penalty through which Kevin Keegan kicked in the first points of the match. Nakuru were yet to find their footing.
When they eventually did, their forwards had now kicked into gear and had taken the set piece match up by the scruff of the neck. Their first foray into Quins territory ended in a missed drop goal from Henry Ayah, this was only the start.
Minutes later, man of the match Geoffrey Ominde picked the ball from the back of a Nakuru scrum, ran a great line to sell a dummy in between Patrice Agunda and David Ambunya. Ominde then placed a perfectly weighted cross kick to the supporting Leslie Ochieng who grounded for a 7-3 score after Ominde’s conversion.
Quins came out from behind their try box with intent and would immediately find themselves with a line out inside Nakuru territory from a penalty. We had seen this script work for Quins time and again through out this season, Tony Mutai gathered the ball in the air to set up a maul.
Things however didn’t go according to script, the Quins’ script. The Wanyore destroyed the Quins maul but were adjudged to have done it illegally. Quins had another penalty and again opted for the line out, Mutai rose and claimed it to set up the maul, again this was defended by Nakuru, again this was deemed to have been done illegally.
At this point Quins had a choice to make, they could keep the pressure on the Nakuru forwards with another maul, take a line out but this time run it out wide to their backs who had been spectators this far, or take kick for points. They went for the first option.
This time Nakuru had revised the laws and went about obliterating the resulting Quins maul within it’s confines, before clearing their lines.
By the time the game went into a water break, Wanyore were now in control of the proceedings, everything was going their way. Their young backs were growing in confidence thanks to their forwards giving them clean ball and their fans in great voice.
At this point, there was only one way for Quins to get back into this one, and that was to involve their explosive backs a bit more. They had so far had one meaningful break courtesy of Frank Wanyama, the battle at the forwards had all but been decided it was time they accepted this.
After hydrating, Nakuru came off the blocks firing, they immediately set camp in Quins territory a quick ball by Edwins Makori from the base of a ruck found Leslie Ochieng in front of a back peddling Quins defence. Leslie then threw a miss two pass into the hands of the sprinting Cassius Omollo who darted over the line. After confirmation from the TMO, Nakuru were 12-3 up.
Geoffrey Ominde would then end the first half with a try, converted by Edwins Makori from the far right corner. (Yes you read that right) Nakuru heading to the break leading 19-3.
Quins had a mountain to climb in the second half, and they came into it with the intent to. Two Kevin Keegan penalties saw the score read 19-9. That mountain was seemingly made even more scalable when Dennis Ombachi was sent to the bin.
Despite the numbers advantage, Quins found themselves further behind, after Philip Kwame went over for the bonus try after several phases from the Nakuru forwards. Ominde converting for a 26-9 score line. Nakuru then saw off this period and were back to full complement with the score still at 26-9.
The Wanyore then went in for the kill, from a similar position where they had muted 3 Quins mauls, it was their turn to rack up the penalties. Instead of the line out, Nakuru opted for the scrum, winning 3 consecutive penalties off Quins, and on the fourth, referee Constant Cap awarded a penalty try which Ominde converted to make it 33-9.
Frank Wanyama then scored Quins’ first try to give a glimpse of hope at 33-14, that glimpse was however lost when John Kiilu was sent to the bin. Charles Odhiambo then sealed a resounding win for Nakuru, after picking the ball from the back of a scrum to score, Ominde converted and later added the cherry on top from a penalty for a 43-14 full time score.
It was a commanding display from Nakuru, reminiscent of that 2013 side, especially at the forwards. The likes of Edwins Makori, Mike Okombe, Dalmus Chituyi had a ‘blaster’ in the forwards, Leslie Ochieng was inspirational in the backs. But it was that man Ominde that made them all tick.
I believe that this game would have played out differently had Quins used their backs a bit more, with the battle at the forwards already lost a bit more quick ball from the rucks to their backs could have done them a load of good.
The result means Quins drop to third, with Nakuru now in 6th. Other results saw Thika claim their first Kenya cup win, a 27-11 result over Bungoma Sharks in the early kick off at the NAC. There were also big wins for Kabras, KCB and Impala against Blak Blad, Mean Machine and Nondies respectively.
Collated Match Day 12 results :
Impala Saracens 50-9 Nondescripts.
Nakuru 43-14 Kenya Harlequin.
Strathmore Leos 25-17 Western Bulls.
Mwamba 13-11 Homeboyz.
Kenya Sharks 11-27 Thika.
KCB 63-0 Mean Machine.
Kabras 63-3 Blak Blad.
KWISHA…Nimeruka Nje!!!
