It Only Happens Once A Year....

"TITIITI TI RIRIRIII (OLLEEE!!)…" that was the first line of my first post on this web space we call Odd shaped balls, come to think of it what the hell was I thinking? here is the rest of that post The Kick Off. Anyway now that I am a year older I can clearly say I was young..hehe yes ladies and gents OSBK is one year old, it actually turned one on the 21^st of September but I was too busy to notice, if it was a girl I wouldn't be here right now. Please note that belated birthday wishes and gifts are acceptable.

Onto the business of the day, rather of this post, the Safari sevens. Yes people are still talking about the extravaganza that was, though stories are now rotating around the “Kwani Sato kulienda aje?” theme. I'd like to concentrate on the happenings within the Nyayo stadium turf..

A section of the crowd on Saturday..

I'll start with the age grade category, and fast forward to the finals played on Sunday, first thing first a big shout to the handlers of all the age grade teams, it's a great job you guys are doing. The U-12 category saw Nakuru take on Arise in the final, with Nakuru being a class above Arise running rings around them at will on the minimised pitch, winning that one 15-0. The Nakuru team had kids throwing passes and thinking better than 20 year olds I know..hehe. The under 14 final was played out between Nakuru and KCB, the little KCB cubs taking the day courtesy of a single try. Overall it's great to see rugby introduced this early in the kids lives, a lot of the people who play the game today started out well after their 16^th birthdays. Imagine how good these kids will be by the time they hit that age...

The Mtaa category saw Langata beat Westlands 5-0, the competition ran from Thursday at the Impala grounds with the final on Saturday at the Nyayo Stadium.

The U-19 category also known as the schools category, always raises a sense of pride and belonging among the fans. Watching the boys from your school rather province battle it out for the regions supremacy against sides from Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda is always a great spectacle (ofcourse this applies to those of us who went to good schools...)

The surprise package was Rwanda, who shocked many by making it to the Main Cup semi final and then silencing their doubters by making it a step further to the final by seeing off Nairobi 5-0 in their semi. Nyanza who were expected to mount a real challenge for the main title had to settle for the Bowl, beating Coast 22-7, Rift Valley going home with the Shield courtesy of a 28-0 win over Eastern. Central claiming the Spear after the TZ guys decided “Siye hatuchezi huu mchezo wenu tena, nyie mwatugonga sana, aah huo mkuki wenu kaeni nao hatu huitaji..kule nyumbani bongo tunayo mikuki mingi tu..”

If there was a favourite in this category, it had to be Western, what with how Kakamega have been playing this past season it was a Western vs whoever final. The boys from western getting to the final courtesy of a 14-5 win over defending champions Uganda. I guess the ssebos forgot to carry their 26 year olds for the U-19 tourney as is their norm..lol! (no offense, but as always feel free to take some if you must!). Western took this one, seeing off Rwanda in the final.

From the age grade we jump ship to the Vets..waliovuma. Their competition was played out on Friday evening, with 8 teams taking part, including a team from France, Les Gaulois. The final in this category could not have been better, with the fiercest of rivalries being rekindled. Quins taking on Impala..the two had met earlier in the day in a pool match, with Quins getting the better of the gazelles 7-5. Impala getting to the final after seeing off Nondies 14-7, Quins thrashing a hapless and clueless KCB 38-0. That pool match between the finalists was a real spectacle but no one had expected the kind of final we witnessed, well unless you were a fortune teller. These 35+ wazees put on a spectacle for the ages, the intensity of this final was on another level. If you had walked in mid way through the match, you'd be forgiven for asking if the vets had been replaced with the regulars at these clubs. Impala taking this battle and the 2012 vets cup 19-7, with exceptional performances by Kola, Ndong and Quins' mc speedy..

To the main competition, as we all know Kenya had a total of 4 representatives the Morans, the Shujaas (still can't decide who was first team between the two), the Chairman's select and Universities side. The four were evenly spread out among the 4 pools, Shujaa in A, Morans in B, Chairman's in C and Universities in D.Of the four the Chairman's select looked to have their work cut out for them as they were pooled along side the Hamilton Raiders, Bristol Baracudas and Spain.

First to take the field was the Chairman's select who came up against Humphrey Kayange's Bristol Baracudas. The Chairman's boys could not handle the Bristol side who saw them off 31-7, next up were the Morans who took on the Uganda Cranes, easily dismissing the neighbours 28-0. Next Kenyan side to take the turf was the Shujaa who had a tough opening fixture against the Samurai, a last minute try giving the home boys a dream start win 14-12. The Universities side was last to take part in the first round of fixtures, the students getting hammered 33-0. By the end of Day 1, Shujaa and Morans had booked a place in the main cup competition. The Shujaa notably putting 50 past the Uganda Kobs, with the Morans edging out Grenoble 17-14. The day 2 line up was as follows:

Bowl Quarters:
Western Province vs Rwanda
Universities Select vs Hamilton Raiders
Chairman's Select vs Zambia
Uganda Cranes vs Uganda Kobs

Main cup Quarters
Kenya Shujaa vs Grenoble
SA 7's EPD vs Bristol Barracudas
Spain vs Portugal
Kenya Morans vs Samurai

Western Province, which is a South African side by the way, saw off Rwanda 48-0, the Universities select impressively getting past the Hamilton Raiders 21-14, with the Chairman's select handing out a 31-10 beating to Zambia who had reiterated the fact that they had not come as tourists, well it did look like they did. The last Bowl quarter final saw the two Ugandan sides, Cranes and Kobs in a heated encounter that saw Uganda Cranes' Bishop Onen suspended from rugby for four weeks following a dangerous tackle, though the player did not receive any disciplinary action during the game, the Cranes won this one 21-14.

The Main Cup Quarter finals saw the Shujaa breeze past Grenoble 33-7, with the SA 7's Elite Programme Development (what a mouthful for a name) edging past the Baracudas 22-12, the pick of the lot from the Quarter finals had to be the showdown between Spain and Portugal, Spain barely taking that one 5-0 in a thrilling encounter. The Last Quarter final saw Kenya's Morans literally bamboozle past the Samurai 24-5 to book the last Semi final berth. 

By the end of the Quarter finals the dream Morans vs Shujaa final was still on...the Universities had dropped to the Shield with the Chairman's select battling it out for the Bowl, here are the Semi Final pairings. 

Shield Semis
Rwanda v Universities
Zambia v UG Kobs


Bowl Semis
Western Province v Hamilton Raiders
Chairman's v Uganda

Plate Semis
Grenoble v Bristol
Portugal v Samurai

Main Cup Semi Final
Shujaa v SA 7s EPD
Spain v Morans

In the Shield, Kenya's Universities side saw off Rwanda 14-0, setting up a final against Zambia who edged out the Ugandan Kobs 14-7 at the last minute.

In the Bowl, Western Province got past the Hamilton Raiders to set up a Final berth against the Chairman's select  who beat the Cranes 17-7.

The Plate Competition saw Grenoble beat the Bristol Baracudas 36-12, with the Samurai walloping Portugal 31-0. To set up a mouth watering final..

Action moved to the Main Cup tourney, first up was The Shujaa taking on the SA 7s EPD. It was one way traffic in the first half, despite the Shujaas' best efforts, the South Africans taking a 22-0 lead into the break. The second half started better for the Shujaa, creating several chances with Biko Adema crossing the line and converting to narrow the gap to 15 points at 22-7 with little over 4 minutes to play. Shujaa would push for the valuable scores but would fall short, SA managing to make the final score to finish the game at 29-7. With that hopes of the Morans, Shujaa final faded away, the next semi saw Morans come up against Spain.

Things here started well for the Morans, taking a 7-0 lead into the break courtesy of a Ombachi try, the Spanish would try to level the score but tries from Ombachi and Sikuta saw the Morans book a final spot with a 17-0 score line.

Thus the Final round of games were as so :

Shield Final:
Universities Select vs Zambia

Bowl Final:
Chairman's select vs Western Province

Plate Final:
Grenoble vs Samurai

3rd Place Play-Off
Shujaa vs Spain

Main Cup Final:
Morans vs SA 7s EPD

In what is an organizer's dream final round, all of the host Country's teams were battling it out in the various categories finals. The only other Country with more than one side in the final round was South Africa with the EPDs and Western Province. First up was the Universities side in the Shield Final, it was the second time that the Zambians were facing Kenyan opposition, having fallen 31-0 to the Chairman's select side on Day 1. This time the Zambians were out to proof that they were no tourists, starting this match in blistering form, taking a 14-0 lead into the half. Though the students did mount a come back of sorts Zambia took the Shield 21-5.

In the Bowl, the Chairman's Select were out to put back the cheers and smiles on the Kenyan fans when the took on Western Province. The South African side had looked good on Day 3, putting 48 past Rwanda and impressively seeing off the Hamilton Raiders 17-7. The Chairman's men, had had a roller coaster ride over the two days, it was now time to steady this ship. The S.A outfit were first on the score board and took a 19-0 lead into the half, the Chairman's men pulled one back through Oscar Ayodi but the S.A side confirmed that the Bowl title would travel down south making it 26-5 before Billy scored a consolation to see the score board read 26-10 at the hooter.

In the Plate, the only category with no Kenyan interest, A shaky Samurai side faced Grenoble. Samurai who I had high hopes for were looking to end the tournament on a high, the game didn't start as they had hoped with Grenoble taking an early 7-0 lead. This was the wake up call Samurai had been waiting for as they stormed to a 19-7 lead into the break. They would stretch that lead to 26-7 before Grenoble hinted at a comeback with a converted try to make it 26-14. Unfortunately it was not to be for Grenoble as the final whistle went with Samurai leading 40-14.

It was the first time there was a third place play off at the Safari sevens in line with most IRB legs, and this was to be played between the Shujaa and Spain. Both sides coming off heart breaks in the Main Cup semis and were looking to erase these memories. Shujaa were faster off the blocks, Biko Adema making it 7-0, they would stretch this lead to 14-0 into the half. Spain would narrow that gap to 7 points before Shujaa sealed the win and third place at 21-7.

Morans Captain Andrew Amonde holds aloft the 3rd place trophy.

This paved way for the big one, the grand finale..Morans taking on the South Africa Sevens Elite Programme Development. At the end of Day 1 I had asked a few rugby brains that I respect who their predicted finalists were, most mentioned Shujaa and Samurai so this was a surprise final to most. 
The South Africans were first on the score board, leading 7-0, the Morans though would take the lead going into the break at 7-10. The South African's would regain that lead at 14-10, before Ombachi made a try saving tackle before setting up Andrew Amonde for what seemed to be the game winning try at 14-17. The Elite Development side would however have the last laugh via a Justin Geguld's try to break the Kenyan's hearts, final score 21-17.

The 2012 Safaricom Safari 7's Champions SA 7s EPD

With that, the S.A side took the Safari Sevens title, meaning the Kenyans fail to win the Main title for a second consecutive year. But if there was a way to lose it, it was this one. The two top Kenyan teams had put in a great show over the two days. The structure of play over the two days was of another calibre all together, especially on the defensive side..it was truely a refreshing sight to see. At the end of the tournament I still could not separate the two sides, though the Shujaa were more of Sleak players, the brains if you like, with the Morans the Muscle. So I guess in this case Muscle won over Brain...

On the overall it's hard to single out a player but I would not end this post without mentioning one Dennis Ombachi...Good luck to the team management as they pick 12 from these 24 great players.

The Morans and the Shujaas...

I think an improvement on the tournament would be first to have prize money for the winners, so that we can attract better sides and improve the quality of the rugby on display. Other than that it was an incredible 3 days of sevens rugby, as you will all bare me witness...It only Happens Once a year!!

Finally on the Sevens, a big shout to the Organising committee, the Volunteers for a great job done over the last few weeks culminating in the Festival that you all enjoyed this past weekend...It was a pleasure pretending to work along side you all while what I was really having was mad fun...hehe!!     

The ladies squad to the 7s world Cup qualifier to be held in Rabat, Morocco was named yesterday. Theladies will battle for the single spot against hosts Morocco, Zambia, Tunisia, Uganda, Senegal, Zimbabwe & Cameroon. The Squad is as follows :

Mary Otieno,
Mary Musieka,
Doreen Remour (Captain),
Irene Otieno,
Rachel Odhiambo,
Philadelphia Olando,
Stacy Awuor,
Linda Nandwa,
Catherine Abila,

Angela Olum,
Celestine Masinde,
Janet Owuor.

Non travelling reserves:
Camyline Awour,
Adelaide Nasambu,
Robina Wambui.

Officials:
Kevin Wambua (coach),
Enos Otieno (assistant coach),
Doris Mwanzia (team manager),
Ben Mahinda (physiotherapist).

Looking forward to the coming Rugby calendar, next up the Homeboyz 10 a side One Night Stand, at the weekend as we keep Rugby at the Nyayo Stadium. This year's edition kicks off at 9 am so I guess it should be renamed to the One Day Stand...I ron know, but this time round a host of top flight teams are set to grace the tournament as they make the shift to 15's rugby.

Before the one night stand, fans will have an opportunity to show case their prowess in the third edition of the Red touch rugby at the Impala grounds, that will be on Friday. When the draw for the Impala floodlites will also be held..

Finally back on the One year vibe...it also only happens once a year so I could not finish this post before I acknowledged the following people for their support through out that one year.. Mike Kwambo, Sheilah Birgen, Becky Nguru, Curtis Lilako (Though he doesn't read it anymore ati juu I stopped tagging him),George Asin, Phillip Wamae, Benjamin Ojema, Kingsley Litali, Allan Omuka, Kate Odunga, Christine Shiro, Angie Nyokabi, Chris Kanyoi, Peter Mutai, Kenya Rugby 24/7, Ministry of Rugby, the Kenya rugby clubs special mention to Quins, Impala, KCB and Mwamba, Irene Maingi, pod ya Victor 'Macho red' Ngure who are actually the guys who introduced me to this game all those years back hehe...and the chick I met at Nyayo on Sunday who told me she likes the blog..yeah you beshte ya Kagwa, and all you read the blog almost religiously and who vumilia the endless notifications akina Indimuli, and tweets on your TLs when I'm hawking my posts. I can not mention you all but a big thank you to you all..I really do appreciate you all...Here's to another year..

And with that Ladies and Gentlemen....for the One yearth time...hehehe...

KWISHA....Nimeruka nje!!!!