Game Day 8, The Review.

Game day 8 of the rugby calendar 2012-13 will go down as turning point for some sides whether to the good or bad is to be seen. Largely though it didn't have any huge surprises nor changes in the respective logs. Afer this one, the leagues' calendar take a 'break' of sorts with the back log of postponed matches set to be cleared.

Action from the MISC Kasarani (Photo courtesy of Chris Kibe 'cKpix')

The Chairman's league Coast edition leaders Mombasa II keep top spot on the log after a 19-5 win over Masaku at the Mombasa Sports Club. Other results saw KEMU Nairobi fall to JKUAT 10-12 with Mombasa Poly walloping Pwani University 56-14 in the MRC derby. The results mean Mombasa Poly go third on 15 points,Mombasa II and JKUAT Voi are still tied on points (18) with Mombasa II taking  it on points tally. KEMU Nairobi complete the top four on 12 points after earning a losing bonus.

Chairman's League (Coast Edition) 

Mombasa II 19-5 Masaku

KEMU Nairobi 10-12 JKUAT Voi

Mombasa Poly 56-14 Pwani University.

In the University category, the fixture between the Comras and Nazarene was postponed. The fixtures that did kick off saw Daystar storm the Stormers 15-10 at the Blue Triangle village. The Dedans of Kimathi edge out KEMU by a single point 6-5 with Catholic Uni beating Thika RFC 27-10. Those results mean Catholic Uni keep their strong hold on the summit with 25 points, Daystar jump to second on 17 points, Thika RFC drop to third still on 16 points, Stormers round up the top four on 15 points having earned a losing bonus.

Chairman's League (University Edition)

Stormers 10-15 Daystar

Kimathi University 6-5 KEMU

Catholic Uni 27-10 Thika RFC.

The only game in the Nationwide Western conference saw Kakamega II beat Maseno 15-0 with the fixture between Moi university and Bungoma postponed to 20^th Jan. Kakamega II are now in second on 21 points, 3 behind leaders Masinde Muliro and one ahead of Eldoret. Kisii round up the top four on 15 points.

The Eastern conference saw Oryx get back to winning ways in style, putting 59 points past Kabarak with USIU registering a 27-0 win over JKUAT. The top of the table clash between Mombasa RFC and Kenya Poly played yesterday with Mombasa edging out the visitors 7-6. Those results see USIU go top on 20 points, Kenya Poly are second on 19, Egerton third on 18 with Mombasa RFC rounding off the top four on 17 points.

Nation Wide Western Conference

Maseno 0-15 Kakamega II

NationWide Eastern Conference

Kabarak 7-59 Oryx

JKUAT 0-27 USIU

The Eric Shirley Shield saw leaders Quins II survive by the skin of their teeth and keep their long running unbeaten run going after scrapping to a 11-8 win over Mwamba II at Kasarani. Second placed KCB II did not have such trouble annihilating visiting Kakamega 66-0, the biggest winning margin across the leagues on this game day. Third placed Strathmore II were also made to work hard for their 11-7 win over Nakuru II in Madaraka. Other results seeing Impala II wallop Blakblad II 36-0, Nondies two with a walk over 24-0 result over Kisumu II with Homeboyz II beating Machine II 26-17. The top four in this one is unchanged, though the KCB cubs on 32 points managed to cut Quins II lead to five points the two now breaking away from the rest of the pack. The Strathmore Catulus trail KCB by 7 points with Impala II rounding off the Semi final spots on 22 points. Mwamba II and Nakuru II are tied on 20 points in 5^th and 6^th respectively. It should be noted however that Mwamba II have played a game less than their rivals.

ESS.

KCB II 66-0 Kakamega

Homeboyz II 26-17 Machine II

Nondies II 24-0 Kisumu II

Impala II 36-0 BlakBlad II

Strathmore II 11-7 Nakuru II

Mwamba II 8-11 Quins II

The top flight also saw no changes in the log, with the top four just doing enough to hold on to their respective spots.

At the Lion's den leaders KCB, welcomed back veteran back row John Ahenda into the squad after missing most of last year through injury, there was also a Kenya cup debut for half back Malin and a return for Kingsley Litali. The Lions eventually made little work of the visiting Western Bulls handing the Echulusi a 46-11 beating. The result sees the Lions stretch their lead at the top to 3 points and cement their position as the most rampant side in the league taking their average tally per game to 35.5 points, the green shirts also holding the title for meanest defence this far, conceding an average of 12 points a game. Western Bulls' sail to the semi final looks to have lost wind after this, they now lie 8^th on 16 points but still have a chance to better that in the coming weeks.

At the Impala club, the hosts registered their first win of the campaign and what a way to do it. Impala having added Leon Adongo to their line up saw the lanky winger touch down twice as did Vincent Mose as the red shirts romped to a 55-14 win over last placed BlakBlad. This game also marked the first time former blad captain George Okowa played against his former mates in the league. Blad's woes seem to keep deepening, conceding an average of 31 points and scoring an measly average of 7 points a game. Impala will breathe a sigh of relief after that win and will hope that sets the stage for their ascend up the standings.

Across the railway from Impala, Nondies made it three wins in their last three with a 39-0 win over visiting Kisumu. That result taking the rangers to within 5 points of 4^th place on 21 points. Biko Adema and Odipo among the scorers in the first half with the score reading 22-0 to the hosts. Kisumu remain 11^th on a single point.

6^th placed Homeboyz RFC kept the chase for a semi final berth kicking with a hard fought 19-8 win over Mean Machine. That was the dj's third win on the trot since they lost 36-11 to Nakuru, for Machine it was the second loss in a row seeing the eschuma maintain 9^th spot on 12 points. The game itself was a Homeboyz main stay, with Oscar Ayodi doing the most damage to the Machine back line.

Third placed Strathmore Leos fell to their first defeat in 5 outings to second placed Nakuru who recorded their first win in 3 having drawn the last two. Ken Andola gave the Leos a 3-0 lead from a penalty, this lead was however short lived, Martin Muita leveling things up from a penalty before giving the Wanyore a 10-3 after converting his try from a rolling maul.

Action from Madaraka (Photo courtesy of  Kevin 'Rodrigues')

The second half saw Nakuru continue to dominate proceedings, even though they had changed tactic deciding to match the Leos in the backs. One Oscar Ouma deployed at open wing causing notable problems to the Leos defence, it was only a matter of time before the Wanyore stretched their lead to 15-3 courtesy of a Phillip Kwame try. As has been the norm for the Leos they seemingly woke up in the closing stages of the second half, piling the pressure on the visitors this resulting in a converted try from a rolling maul to cut the deficit to 5 points at 15-10. Strathmore sensing the kill poured forward pinning Nakuru in their half forcing errors from them resulting in a yellow card for Phillip Kwame, the Leos could hover not make this advantage count, missing two penalties that could have seen them take this one, Nakuru holding on for a hard fought win here. The two remain in second and third, Nakuru holding a 5 point advantage over the Leos. (Additional reporting courtesy of Martin Kapluk)

At the Moi International Sports Center Kasarani, 4^th placed Quins  fell to their third defeat of the season to fifth place Mwamba and throw the race for the final Semi final spot wide open.

Defending champions forced to a late change with winger William Ambaka pulling his groin, Nick Barasa partnering Denis Muhanji at the centres, Allan Omuka moving to blind wing with Kevin Keagan at 15.

Hosts Mwamba took the lead after a cagey start through Nick Ongeri, 5-0 to the black shirts, this after Tony Mutai of the Quins saw yellow for an infringement at the ruck. Max Theuri responded for the quartered shirts after the numbers were evened, Asiligwa making no mistake from the conversion to make it 7-5, this opened the gates for what was an end to end run period. From the kick off, Mwamba put together a few phases to bring them within striking distance from where centre Vincent Jumba sliced through the Quins defence to tough down between the posts to make it 12-7. Asiligwa went over for the Quins, converting his try to hand the lead back to his side at 12-14 before two Tito Oduk penalties gave the black shirts an 18-14 lead going into the break.   

Captain Salaton Muturi could not watch as Lyle kicked Quins into the lead (Photo courtesy of cKpix)

The half saw Mwamba dominate their visitors in all departments, technically the better side with Quins switching on and off.

The second half saw Mwamba keep frustrating their opponents in the forwards, and playing their territory almost to a fault courtesy of the yellow boots of Lavin Asego. Quins looked to get back in it, with promising runs notably from Kevin Keegan and Allan Omuka but Mwamba held their ground despite losing Dan Sikuta to the sin bin in this period. The black shirts would see their technical discipline pay off with a try from substitute Horace Otieno and conversion from Oduk to make it 25-14. Quins had thrown on Wilson K'opondo, Dadex Karani, Joel Nganga and Vincent Mogere to try tilt the contest in the forwards but they made little change to a ship that had seemingly lost direction. They would however get a consolation from a Brian Nyikuli last minute try that earned them a losing bonus at 25-19. (Additional reporting courtesy of Harry Bor)

Allan Omuka gettin past Chris Asego. (Photo Courtesy of cKpix)

Finally Tito Oduk can call it even with Charles Cardovillis after 9 years and you could see from the grin he had after the final whistle went.

The Quins now hold a point advantage over Mwamba with three games to go, at this point most are going with Mwamba for that final spot seeing as the momentum is with them. Looking at the remaining fixtures Quins will be playing Strathmore, KCB then Nakuru with Mwamba having an easier run in on paper, they face BlakBad, Kisumu and Machine. Strathmore might also be pulled into this, if they lose to Quins and Mwamba win against the Blad they will find themselves in 4^th tied with Mwamba that is assuming they all get the minimum 4 points for a win. It's a long list of possibilities let's just say at this point only the top two can start counting their eggs.

KENYA CUP

KCB 46-11 Western Bulls

Impala 55-14 BlakBlad

Nondies 39-0 Kisumu

Homeboyz 19-8 Machine

Strathmore 10-15 Nakuru

Mwamba 25-19 Quins

This loss by the defending champions has obviously raised eye brows, with many saying there is a discontent inside the camp. No I don’t have an anonymous source, I'll just say this from my observation, it's as if that hunger to win has left. The ruthless Quins that would score in almost every visit to an opponent's 22 seems to have faded away, now they seem complacent. If they are to defend their title they have to solve whatever is eating them and fast..

A bit on the venue, Kasarani is a great pitch for rugby, the surface is good, probably the length is a bit shorter than what we have in most grounds but the layout of the stadium itself is great. I'd really like to see the Safari sevens staged there at some point can you imagine a strong 60,000 people inside there? The atmosphere would be great! Apart from the trek from the super highway to the main Stadia and the distance between the pitch and the terraces there is not much wrong with it.   

As mentioned earlier, the calendar takes a break this weekend (19th) to clear the back log of postponed fixtures especially in the lower leagues. The top flight sees only one game with Blad travel to Kisumu, the ESS will see two games, Mwamba II vs Nondies II and obviously Kisumu II vsBlad II, the Nationwide and Chairman's leagues will see games spread out in the mid week and weekend.   

My predictions again were not that far off the mark, 4 out of 6 at this rate nitafungua kibanda ya 'Mganga kutoka TZ, ana tabiri future na kuponya magonjwa sugu kama kuvunjika kwa ndoa, kufutwa kazi etc..'

Finally on my salamz corner happy belated birthday wishes to madam fan of the year coach and captain of social media RFC Ms. Fiona 'Fiphee' Amusudzu...I'm sure you enjoyed. And to my thunder buddy George Asin, I know you had a great one..I was there hehe!

With that ladies and gents....have a productive week ahead..harufu ya Wellington ya nukia..aaannnndddddd....

KWISHA....Nimeruka Nje!!!!