The Strathmore Leos were in imperious form over the weekend as they charged to their fifth great rift 10-a-side title at the ASK Show grounds.
It was evident from when they released their squad to play at the great rift, that the Leos were not leaving anything to chance. From the time they beat TUK 36-0 in their day 1 opener to when they blanked Kabras 10-0 in the cup final, the side always looked to have an extra gear that their opponents could simply not match.
The fact that they won the 2-day rugby extravaganza without conceding a single point is further evidence to the fact above.
As mentioned earlier, Strathmore got their campaign up and running with a 36-0 win over TUK, they followed this up with 58-0 and 45-0 thumping of JKUAT and KCA respectively. The Leos were never out of second gear in the all universities Pool C as they claimed top spot.
They would be joined in the cup quarter finals by defending champions and hosts Nakuru RFC, who finished second in Pool A after losing 10-5 to Quins in the last round of Pool games. Alongside the Leos and Quins, KCB and Kabras were the other unbeaten sides at the close of day 1 action.
KCB came out on top of Pool B, with 24-5, 31-0 and 17-7 wins over Catholic, Egerton and Impala. They would progress to the cup competition alongside Impala. Kabras kept that 100% record at the end of day 1 with wins over USIU, 36-5, Machine, 17-0 and 8-5 over Homeboyz who were the second qualifiers in this Pool.
There were no surprises from day 1 action, apart from Quins silencing the ASK Showgrounds with that 10-5 win over Nakuru to top pool A. TUK made it to the cup quarter final, from the ‘universities pool’ after beating JKUAT and KCA 22-0 and 7-0 respectively. At this point everyone in the cup quarter finals must have wanted to get drawn against them.
It was however Kabras that would meet TUK in the cup quarter finals, their slot in the semi finals was now guaranteed, or was it?
Day 2 pairings.
Bowl Quarter Finals :
Brumbies vs Egerton
Machine vs JKUAT
KCA vs USIU
Catholic vs Eldoret
Cup Quarter Finals :
Quins vs Impala
Kabras vs TUK
Strathmore vs Homeboyz
KCB vs Nakuru
With the prevailing weather, the term ‘ku chase dew’ could not be used to describe the early risers on Day 2. Mean Machine failed to defend the bowl title they picked up last year, by a whisker. The scores were tied at 5-5 when the referee blew for full time, which meant that we would play an extra 10 minutes of sudden death, first score to win.
The Monks would win a series of penalties, inching them closer to the Machine try line. Their first attempt for the posts from a penalty sailed just wide, there was no denying them, the second time however. They kept grinding and won a penalty just outside the Machine 22, the kicker stepped up to slot in the drop goal to make 8-5 as the final whistle filled the air.
After losing 10-5 to Egerton, Brumbies went on to beat JKUAT 15-0 in the Shield semi final, finishing second in the category after losing 24-0 to KCA in the final. KCA had started the day off with a last minute 15-10 loss to USIU, in the bowl semi. They would get a by in the Shield semi with Eldoret having pulled out of the tournament after Day 1 action.
Cup quarter final action kicked off with Quins once again re affirming their dominance over their next door neighbours, blanking the Impala Sarries, 12-0. What most expected to be a one way affair, saw Kabras struggle to get past TUK, 12-7 in the second cup quarter final.
Strathmore put in a resolute performance in the third cup quarter final to beat Homeboyz 12-0. The highlight of the quarter finals came in the last cup quarter. A replay of last year’s final with Nakuru taking on KCB. The Lions were first on the board, through their rising star Vincent Onyala who scored in every game for the side, to pick up both the top try and points accolades.
The Lions went into the breather holding on to a 7-0 lead. That would however not last long as Nakuru equalised with a converted try early in the second half. The half wore on with both sides failing to break the dead lock, could we be heading to sudden death? Just when we thought that we would see an extra 10 minutes in this one, Geoffrey Ominde popped up.
From a penalty a few meters inside the KCB 40 meter line, Ominde opted to go for the posts, as the arena fell dead silent, Ominde took a deep breath and one last glance at the spot before executing a sweetly struck drop goal in between the sticks to hand Nakuru a 10-7 lead. There was no time for KCB to respond as the final whistle sounded moments after.
The Lions would regather after this to pick up the plate title, after registering 7-0 and 19-5 wins over Homeboyz and Impala in the semi final and final, respectively. Impala having beaten TUK 26-12 in the other semi final.
The cup semi finals were nerve wrecking affairs, first up Kabras took the early 5-0 lead against Kenya Harlequin, a lead they would have going into the half time break. The second half was a see saw affair with the sides trading possession, with none able to make it count. Kabras would put the game beyond Quins, from a penalty that made it 8-0 with precious little time left.
Quins got a consolation from a Stanley Lunani unconverted try to make the full time score 8-5. The second semi final saw the Leos play a highly tactical match, to blank Nakuru 10-0. Tries by Churchill Ooko and John Oduk either side of the break ensured the Leos passage to the final, in a match that they played with 9 men for 4 minutes out of the 20, making that win the more impressive.
The cup final started on a cagey note, both sides probably not willing to give up any ground, it was like a classic boxing fight, both fighters just jabbing away, probing to find chinks in their opponent’s armour, who would land the first right hook?
The first score came from a Kabras line out between the Strathmore 40 and 50 meter line. Kabras would spill the ball from the line out, Tony Owuor would react fastest, rising to pluck the ball from above the Kabras 9, he then pinned back his ears, turned on the after bunners, trade mark eyes out to charge to the line for a 5-0 lead.
Like all the other teams that faced them over the two days, Kabras struggled to break the Strathmore line, even when the Leos were down to 9 men. As the game wore on, the Leos grew in stature, with Kabras playing second fiddle at every facet of play. It was then a matter of time before the commanding Leos sealed this one.
That man Tony Owuor was again on hand to score for the Leos, deep in the second half, receiving the ball on the far side a little over 5 meters to the Kabras try line. He first shrugged off the attention of two Kabras defenders, before dragging another two over the line. 10-0.
With that the Leos picked up their fifth Great rift title, this was the second time they did so without conceding a single point, first time coming in 2012. Tony Owuor would deservedly pick up the MVP award. He was immense for the side in the two days, alongside Churchill Ooko who almost single-handedly beat Homeboyz in the quarter final.
It was a great 3 days of rugby at the ASK Showgrounds, which showed some potential as a rugby venue, I’d however still pick the NAC over it any day. We saw some great young talent stand up to be counted, the likes of Ian Mabwa, Victor Onyala, Ian Lumwaji just to name a few.
My highlight of the weekend though, came in the second division played on Friday and Saturday, from eventual Shield winners, Pioneer Rugby Club. Having already played out two rounds on Day 1, up came diminutive figure in rugged rugby kit to the management table. He introduced himself as Moses Kanyiri, captain of a newly formed rugby team called the Pioneers from Gilgil.
Moses was inquiring whether there was a possibility for his side to play at least a match. As they were not in the draw and had taken the chance to make the trip to Nakuru in the hope they would get a chance to play
He explained that they had mixed up the venues, heading to the Nakuru Day grounds where the age grade competition was running concurrently. After a few deliberations, it was decided to slot them in one of the pools that was a side short. This would however mean that they would only play one round today and wait for Day 2 action, a situation they happily accepted.
To see them on the podium, receiving the shield title, filled me with immense pride in a side I knew nothing about, till the previous day. I pray that this is the start of something great for Pioneer rugby club. That a few years down the line when they make it to the top flight, we will toast to their humble beginnings…
KWISHA…Nimeruka Nje!!!
