Top rugby teams battle it out for finals slot in Kenya Cup

The country’s top four rugby teams go into the penultimate round of Kenya Cup, seeking to secure a home fixture in the semi-finals that would boost their chances of reaching the finals of local rugby’s most prestigious trophy.

Quins, KCB, Impala and Nakuru occupy the top four slots, in the respective order, of the eight team Kenya Cup league after five rounds of matches.

The bottom half of the table has Nondies, Mwamba and University sides Mean Machine and Strathmore.

Quins host neighbours Impala this coming weekend brimming with confidence after taming second placed team KCB 37 – 12 this past weekend at the Lions Den in Ruaraka – KCB’s home ground.

“Winning keeps the confidence up and we have to keep at it,” said Charles Cardovillis, assistant coach of Quins. “It is not about who finishes first, second or third, it’s just about winning every game.”

This year, the 15 – a side Kenya Cup league has adopted a different format where the top four teams, after a round of seven games, go into the semi finals with the winners proceeding into the finals.

The team which finishes on top of the table hosts the fourth placed side while the second welcomes the third placed team in the one off semi final games.

According to rugby officials, the new format was adopted to shorten the league because of a congested calendar and also squeeze a few international friendly games for the 15 a side national squad whose exposure has been limited to a couple of games against Uganda.

Also, some argue the new format brings out the best in the teams.

“It will give us a measure of the level of consistence because previously it was a matter of accumulating points,” said Jotham Owili, the Nakuru RFC coach. “It’s a change worth having.”

The previous format had each of the eight teams faced each other in a home and away fixture meaning a round of 14 games.

The league champion was the team with the most points at the end of the league.

Many pundits in the rugby circles read into the new format as a way of attracting sponsors for the Kenya Cup, which although is jewel in the crown for most local rugby sides has gone without a sponsor for a couple of seasons.

And according to script the final fixtures are proving to be mouth watering top of the table clashes pitting predictably the top four sides in the longer version of the game locally.

In the final three rounds of the league, Quins, KCB, Impala and Nakuru play each other.

“We are now at a level where all the top teams are playing each other,” said Michael “Tank” Otieno KCB’s coach.

In their next fixture on March 20th, KCB host an upbeat Nakuru side and will be looking to make amends for their heavy defeat in the hands of Quins last weekend.

“We had an off day and some players were not focused,” said Mr Otieno “Whatever it is we are still in contention.”

On their end, Nakuru will come on the back of a morale boosting 8 -6 victory of Impala.

The fact that Impala had raided the Rift Valley side for players at the beginning of the season added flavour to the tie.

“We could read their game since we knew most of their players,” said Mr Owili the Nakuru tactician.

He adds that his side will be gunning for second place to ensure a home fixture in the semi final play offs.

At the tail end of the table it has been yet another season of “so close yet so far” for the Nondies squad who after a spirited beginning to this year’s league has crumbled in crucial away games.

“The mistakes we have been making have crept up again,” says Bobby Oyugi the Nondies center. “It’s like déjà vu.”