Weekend Vibes Ke

  The KSSSA national games wrapped up and Butula Boys High School were crowned champions after seeing of a Spirited All Saints Embu High School, 38-0. However impressive is the rise of All Saints Embu High School who made their debut at the national games and left their mark by rampaging through teams to earn their slot at the finals. All praise goes to the young lads representing Eastern Region.  Benson Mwenda  This not withstanding, my attention was drawn to their coach, Benson Mwenda, a young coach who has had a brilliant impact on the team. I have followed his activities via Meru Rugby Football Club and he is indeed an exceptionally talented coach.  He reminds me of the 2011 St. Joseph's Boys Kitale coach, Ben Amboko, who had a similar fete back in 2011, guiding the school to their maiden national 7s games and rampaging through formidable sides to only fall short in the final to Maseno School, in the process birthing stars like Daniel Sikuta who went on to play f...

  What a weekend this has been?! Rugby was at its peak. With matches being played locally and overseas, our boys packed a punch. Internally, RFUEA Grounds played host to mouth-watering fixtures that kicked off at 11am with the Nationwide Finals pitting Mombasa RC against JKUAT. The two teams had already secured promotion to the KRU Championship and were playing for the title. A calm and collected Mombasa side saw off the students from JKUAT to be crowned champions with a 31-16 win. In the Mwamba cup finals, KCB faced fellow City Counterparts, Kenya Harlequins, in what proved to be a tasty fixture. Quins pulled away in the second half despite being behind at the break to take the title. KCB stayed in the game through two tries from veteran Andrew Amonde but it wasn't enough as Quins piled more points to take the Game 36-26. In the final match at the RFUEA, Kabras and KCB renewed rivalries and at the half way stage It was almost evident KCB had gotten the better of their counterparts...

One of the most mouth-watering, sold out fixtures in recent days has to be between the KCB Lions and Kabras Rugby Sugarmen. We first got an taste of the rivalry that has developed over the years when Kabras gained promotion to the Kenya Cup in 2014. They faced KCB at the den with a beefed up squad and the duel ended 10-13 in favour of KCB, who were the more established of the two sides. This would go to be the case, with Kabras making the finals in the 2014/15 season and loosing to KCB. This wouldn't however dampen the mood in the sugar millers as they marched into the 2016 season rampaging through core Kenya Cup sides and booking a ticket in the final to face Impala Saracens who had eliminated KCB. Kabras, in what was their fashion that season, enjoyed the rainy match in the capital city, winning their maiden Kenya Cup title. Fast forward, Kabras have won the Kenya Cup thrice, beating Menengai Oilers and most recently KCB. With the Enterprise Cup finals in town, Kabras will want t...

image courtesy of KRU  It is no secret that Kenya churns out tremendous amounts of rugby talent for the shorter and longer versions of the game. Gems in the form of Kenya Sevens contigent of, Kevin Wekesa, Edmund Anya, Brian Tanga and Alvin Otieno have been tearing it up with the big boys on the HSBC World Rugby 7s Series. On the longer version, Several experienced heads from the simbas got a chance to run out and represent East Africa in the Hong Kong International 10s tournament. Likewise Simba's utility forward Thomas Okeyo Ongera is lined up to make his Currie Cup Premier Division debut for the Griffons this coming Sunday when they host defending champions Pumas in Welkom. Okeyo debuted for the Simbas in 2021, and previously turned out for former Kenya Cup champions Wanyore (Nakuru RC) and South African Varsity Cup side University of Johannesburg. He has become a key cog in the Simbas forward pack over the past three years, most recently featuring at the RWC 2023 Final Qu...

image courtesy of Shujaa With only two legs left in the 2023 HSBC World Sevens Series, Shujaa sit 13th on the log with 37 points. If things are to stay as they are, new regulations will see Shujaa take part in a relegation playoff tournament that will decide the last of the 12 core sides of the Series going forward. Shujaa are 12points from 11th position and only 11 points behind 12 placed Spain. This is now a race against time to amerce points in the last two legs to guarantee survival. The winner of any leg in the HSBC Series gets 22points with the runner up getting 19, 3rd place gets 17, 4th place gets 15, 5th place gets 12 points and 6th gets 10. For Shujaa to survive they will need to finish 5th or higher in the last two legs to guarantee them maximum points accumulated and thus escape the relegation zone. With the pools for Toulouse leg announce after the completion of the Singapore set piece, It is down to the boys to put in the work and get themselves in main c...

With the KRU Elections done and dusted, a new dawn sets on the Kenya Rugby Union under the stewardship of Sasha Mutai, who assumes the Chairmanship of the Kenya Rugby Union Board. As the Rugby fraternity, we participated in the elections through our various club delegates who voted in the new team. This is what we want from them. It will be important to build on our national team and qualify for the RWC for both men and women teams. This has been an elusive dream for our nation but we can learn and craft our way to the worldwide setpiece event in 2027 having missed out on three world cups following heartbreaking losses to Madagascar 2014, Namibia 2018, and Namibia 2022. We want our sport to go pro. This can only be achieved by bringing corporates on-board. If we invest in our facilities amd personnel, rugby will be the number one sport in Kenya. We have the capacity to achieve this. Age grade rugby systems must be defined and proper coaching to be done to ensure that the ta...