What A Start!!

Well, there is only one way to start this post...WEEEELLLLLL IIIIIINNNNNN BBBOOOYYYYSSSS!!! I could end this post right here...kwisha!

It's a few minutes to the England game, after a round of monopoly, Fifa 12, Kevin Hart's Laugh at my pain..the moment we had all been waiting for was finally here. We are gathered around the tv set, me and my closest of friends, I can spot a few nervous faces, crossed fingers maybe.."I hope sija waste usingizi ya mine" the sleepier of us all exclaims, he is met by firm glances and recedes in his seat. The boys run in led by tripple A, "wabeee.." and there's a hush just before kick off..this is it!

Look at the English guy on the right, ashaingiza baridi..

England start off on the attack, with the boys defending comfortably, a few minutes into the game Dan Norton breaks the defence line to score. "Haina pressure..hatujabeba ball hata" the one who really knows the insides of the team says as if to console the ones of little faith. England restart and the ball is fumbled, the red roses regain possesion and attack..again the boys showing great structure in re aligning after break downs..though England do score again to take the score to 14-0 at the half time break..we are very positive that we can get back into this one.

Second half and we retain possession from the kick off, it was the first time we were seeing the boys with ball in hand. It went to one wing, then to the other every time very neat at the rucks..43 seconds later Davis Chenge scored on his debut, the room filled with cheers, never mind it was almost 4 am neighbours and all..Biko converting to make it 14-7. The boys were growing in belief, confidence Collins Injera falling short of leveling the score after great defensive work. But we were not to be denied, on came Dennis Ombachi, with his first touch out on the wing..he had Norton defending him. Well that was what he was supposed to do..Ombachi sending the english winger with greetings to his people as he touched down under the posts, Biko making no mistake to tie the scores at 14 all with the last piece of action. "Hakuna extra time?" hehe this statement was not made out of ignorance, far from it..rather it was from the confidence that given an extra minute we would have beaten these roses..but a draw was a good result.

In my preview I mentioned the importance of the performance we put in this game, well it was a super performance. As 'big' Mike put it, the boys were a bit nervous in the first half but they grew into the game and showed us all what they could do. Our panel of post match analyzers pointing out our structures in defence and especially at the contact area as areas that the boys had shown great improvement since the last time we saw the team at the HSBC, also a patience in attack. "Hata hiyo usingizi imeisha." exclaimed the sleepy one, we laughed..knowing he wouldnt last another 10 minutes. Our uncertainty before the game had been replaced by a cautious but re assuring confidence, as it was only game 1. "Game next iko 6, sindio...sawa si mtaniamsha" the sleepy one said as he staggered to his  bed. "Sa the real test ni against Samoa" noted our sevens supremo.

Fast forward to the Samoa game, only one of us claims that he did not sleep, since we could not prove it we let it slide knowing that he'll brag for a while. Samoa were first to the line, Alatasi Topou converting his try 7-0. Collins Injera replying before the break with Biko converting to make it 7 all. Oscar Ouma would give Kenya the lead for the first time in the game and indeed tournament at 12-7. The boys showing great awareness in defence holding out the Samoans, "Hiyo ingekua last season tungetingwa" one of us noted after a great tackle by Mike Wanjala. Samoa would however have the last laugh in this one..Lio Lolo's try converted to make it 14-12 at the buzzer. Yes we had lost this one but again the performance..

Before this, some of us had watched Spain narrowly lose to England, so the calculations started. "So tukikula Spain na more than 3 then Samoa ichape England to main cup..ah hiyo tuko inside" As we broke our Kamukunji guys heading for class, others for training sessions..but not yours truly, I had to watch the Spain game, so did the others.

The boys looked upbeat for this one, they knew what they had to do and were ready to do it. Collins Injera scoring the first of his brace through one Pedro Martin. The chu chu train would again use the same avenue to stretch Kenya's lead to 14-0, Biko Adema confirming our dominance over that half to make it 21-0. Spain would get one over the line to make it 21-7 at the restart of the second half, The Chu chu train would again use the Pedro avenue this time to release Ouma to make it 26-7. Spain scoring with the last play of the game to end it at 26-12.

The boys had done their part, it was now Samoa's turn..hehe. As I was now rolling solo I turned to social media.."I am now on loan to Samoa.." "Hi my name is blah blah na mi ni msamoa na siringi" went some of the comments as the red and black was dropped for the blue and white of Samoa though for 15 minutes.

 England were quicker off the blocks, as they took a 12-0 lead mid way through the first half "Now what direction is this Samoa game taking?" went the first tweet I read on my time line. "Hawa Samoa wamelipwa.." read the next. Samoa would put one back, to make it 12-7 at the break. Samoa taking the lead immediately after the restart 14-12, before England retook that lead at 17-14..guys hearts were in their mouths at this point. Samoa would however restore many a Kenyan hearts to their rightful place with the match winning try..at 19-17. Kenya were through to the main cup competition, and deservedly so.

Kenya would meet the hosts Australia in the main cup quarter final, at this point the target I had set for the boys had been reached, thus I watched the game a satisfied man not minding the result, not that I didn't want us to win..no. Australia were first to the line, Matt Lucas converting his own try to make it 7-0. Oscar Ouma getting things even after a Biko Adema conversion to tie the scores 7 all at the break. Pama Fou would give the hosts the lead upon the restart Matt Lucas converting to make it 14-7. Collins Injera would get on the score board, Biko Adema converting to tie the scores at 14 all. With three minutes to play, the boys were on the verge of causing a major upset..and this was exactly what they did..last minute super star Dennis Ombachi grounding the ball, Adema converting to make it 21-14 at the buzzer to hand Kenya a semi final berth against the all blacks.

Oscar celebrating after the win over the hosts.

It was the first time in a while that we were making it to a main cup semi final. After the Aussie game believe grew that we could actually go all the way and win this one. NZ did look out of sorts, with several new faces in the squad and having struggled to get past Argentina in the quarters and USA on day 1 also that thumping they received at the hands of SA..we could actually do this.

New zealand would take the early lead through Belgium, to make the scores 5-0. As we had become accustomed to, Oscar Ouma levelled the scores going into the break at 5 ups. Despite the best efforts from the boys, NZ managed to sneak in two tries in the second half to take that one 15-5. We were now to play S.A in the 3rd place play off..

I wont talk much about that game, the boys looked wasted, they had given their all in the last two games..legs were weary, bodies battered and the final score really didnt mean much. NZ also fell to the same fate, if you watched the final..it is however serves as a warning to what can happen if we drop our guards. A well rounded performance from the team over the two days as I mentioned, our defense structures have massively improved, tidiness at the contact area..we conceded very few penalties from this situations and our patience in attack, no one made rush decisions. Everyone had a defined role to play and this they did..Going forward we should polish up on kick offs especially when we are receiving, we suffered abit here. My ka message to the rest of the world "You ain't seen nothing yet!"

We march into Dubai (Nov 30- Dec 1), 15 points in the bag, we are pooled alongside Gold coast winners Fiji, Scotland and Spain (Pedro Martins does not like this) in Pool A. Quick question though, I thought as fourth placed finishers at Gold Coast, we should be Pool D headliners. Any way, Pool A,D or Z tutadimbua maguyz bado. Our 'To do' list has 3 sides Samoa, New Zealand and South Africa...       
      
Back home, Machine kept their after dark tendencies going at the Airtel Impala Floodlights, beating hosts Impala 17-15 to make it to next weekend's final. The other Semi saw Nondies keep their impressive run going, at the same time extending Nakuru's wait to play in a Floodlit final by one year when they saw off the wanyore 28-10. In the universities category USIU Strathmore II 24-22 this is after trailing 17-0 at some point. Us guys of USIU will face Mean Machine II who edged out Kenya Polytechnic 16-15.

In the school's category Lenana and Mang’u booked their places in the final, thus rendering my prophetic skills useless. Lenana wallopes Dagoretti 46-0, with Mang’u having to dig deep to beat Moi Forces Academy 8-5.

Finally on the salams and big ups corner hehe..belated birthday wishes to one Phillip Wamae this one has to be my one of my oldest friendships...
Si mi ndio niikua wa first kukuimbia Happy birthday..hehe Here's to many more bro!!

With that ladies and Gentlemen...enjoy your week ahead aaannnnddd.

KWISHA....Nimeruka nje!!