The BRSS Match day 1 and Glasgow 7's Review.

The mboys managed to make the most of what was a disappointing leg in Glasgow, winning the Shield. They managed to win two of their six fixtures to ensure the Shield win, here are the results over the two days:

Day 1
Kenya 7-40 England
Kenya 26-28 Australia
Kenya 14-29 USA

Day 2
Kenya 12-19 Scotland (Bowl 1/4 Finals)
Kenya 24-7 Zimbabwe (Shield Semi)
Kenya 22-14 USA (Shield Finals)

We started off on the wrong note when England took advantage of our defensive frailties to amass that score. We looked like we were heading for another thumping during the first half of the game against Australia before a second half come back saw us falling at the death. The mboys were leading 26-21 with a minute to play before a defensive lapse saw Australia sneak away with the win. The final game of Day 1 saw us go down to the US of A though it was a spirited performance from the mboys. Day 1 was characterised by several defensive errors as I have mentioned, we were mostly punished at the rucks, also going forward we looked to lack ideas.

The Glasgow 2012 Shield Winners

Day 2 saw us clash with the Scots, a better Kenya side however narrowly lost to the home boys, the Scots managing to revenge the loss they suffered here to us last year in the Bowl Final. This loss saw us drop to the Shield where we met Zimbabwe, recording our first win in Glasgow a convincing one at that against our African bros. This set up a rematch against the Obama boys in the Shield final, this time the mboys making no mistake and revenging the day 1 loss and thus winning the Shield trophy.

An interesting stat that I noted over the two days is that we conceded the first try in every game, I don't know what that is down to maybe a lack of concentration or was it nerves? This fact meant that we were always chasing games thus more prone to rush decisions. We will have to work on our defense especially early on in the game and the set pieces before the first game at the Marriott London sevens next weekend if we are to have a better outing there. The Shield win earns us 3 points and sees us 11th on the log tied with USA on 39 points.

We are pooled with Circuit leaders and Glasgow Champions New Zealand, Argentina and Russia in Pool A of the Marriot London Sevens. More on this in the weekend's preview..

The tenth edition of the Bamburi super series kicked off this past weekend, with matches in Nairobi, Kampala and Mombasa.

At the RFUEA grounds or should I say swamp, the first game saw last year's finalists the Cheetahs snatching an 11-7 win off the jaws of the Sharks. The Sharks had taken the early lead through a Salamba try and had lead to the break though that deficit was reduced by Steve Sakwa's boot from a penalty to make the scores 7-3 at the half.

The Cheetahs would further reduce that gap to one point early in the second half through another Sakwa penalty. The soggy conditions were not doing the sharks any favours as it hampered their preferred running game forcing them to play it close to the delight of the Cheetahs. The cats forwards were starting to impose themselves in the closing stages of the game, the Sharks doing all they could to hold on, but it was not to be. With less than a minute to play the Cheetahs won a line out in the Sharks 22, mauling it to the line making the scores 11-7 at the final whistle. The man of the match from this one was Tony Onyango of the Sharks, he did well every time he was on the ball managing to sprint in those gumboot conditions. Other notable performances were Sharks captain Adimo and Buyachi, Ekasi and Mwenesi for the Cheetahs.

In Kampala a spirited Buffaloes side went down 43-31 to the Rwenzori, the Western boys who had gone into the half 33-10 down put together a great second half display out scoring their hosts 21-10 though it was not enough to win them the game. As I predicted this Buffaloes side is going to be a hard nut to crack.

In Mombasa the Lions registered a comfortable 45-6 win over the Coastal Bulls, the Bulls who had taken the early lead through a penalty saw the Lions claw back then forge ahead courtesy of a foray of tries from the likes of Michael Omondi, Dan Sikuta and Ombachi.

The second match at the RFUEA swamp was between the Rhinos and Victoria, the defending champions seeing off their opponents 46-9. The Rhinos were never threatened really through out the whole game, running the show from the kick off, tries from Dennis Muhanji, Edwin Makori, Wilson Kopondo,Dennis Abega, Calvin Otieno, Chris Oduor and a brace from Brian Nyikuli enough to cement the hosts dominance. Agero scoring 9 points off his boot with second half substitute Ian Chewaini converting the Otieno try. The losing Victoria side managing to score twice via 2 penalties by Phillip Wokorach. My Motm from this one going to Wilson Kopondo, he worked his socks off the whole 80 minutes other notable performances were by Leslie Libasia, Warui, Agero, Achayo and Nyikuli for the Rhinos.

As I mentioned it was a one way affair with the Rhinos in fluent form, with the Victoria struggling to keep up. It is still early days in the series but the wining teams can build on the great start they have made..After round 1 the pools look like this :

Pool A
1.Lions - 5
2.Cheetahs - 4
3.Sharks - 1
4.Bulls - 0

Pool B
1.Rhinos - 5
2.Rwenzori - 5
3.Buffaloes -1
4.Victoria - 0

With that fair ladies and gents.....

KWISHA!!!