Masaku Sevens Review

The second edition of the Masaku sevens at the Machakos Golf club, largely lived up to expectation both on and off the field.

Kilunda vs Nakuru at a Line out (Photo - Shutterdiplomacy.com)

Day 1 action saw a handful of surprises as most of the usual suspects made their way into the Cup competition. Top on the list of surprises was the hosts' 17-14 win over Kisumu in Pool B, that result meant Kilunda went through to the Cup quarter final alongside Homeboyz. In Pool A Quins went through alongside Nakuru. Mwamba went through with Impala in Pool C with USIU and new comers Kabras completing the list from Pool D.

Day 2 Pairings

Bowl :
Stormers vs Nazarene
Blak Blad vs British Army
Kisumu vs Mean Machine
Pirates vs Daystar

Cup :
Quins vs Kilunda
Mwamba vs USIU
Homeboyz vs Nakuru
Kabras vs Impala

In the Bowl competition, the Savanna Stormers overcame Africa Nazarene 27-5 in the first quarter final. The second saw Blak blad edge past the physical British Army with 12-5 score line.  Kisumu and the G4S Pirates going through from their matches respectively.

The first cup quarter final was a mismatch really, with Quins running 40 unanswered points over the hosts, Mwamba following suit with a 31-0 win over USIU. Homeboyz impressively seeing off Nakuru 33-19 in the stand out result of the round. The other quarter final saw Impala win a highly physical match against the Kabras 12-0.

Semi Final Pairings

Shield 

Nazarene vs British Army

Machine vs Pirates

Bowl

Stormers vs Blakblad

Kisumu vs Daystar

Plate

Kilunda vs USIU

Nakuru vs Kabras

Cup

Quins vs Mwamba

Homeboyz vs Impala

The physical British army went past Nazarene 19-0, bullying the students into submission to book a final berth against the G4S Pirates who easily got past Machine, 31-7.

In the bowl, the flying Savanna Stormers edged out Blakblad 19-5 to progress into the final against Kisumu who got past Daystar 17-5. 

In the Plate, the hosts continued with their impressive run beating USIU 15-0 to book a final berth, Nakuru beating Kabras 17-5 in the other semi final.

The cup saw a replay of last year's final and was termed by many the final before the final, as the current sevens champions met the immediate former champs, Quins vs Mwamba. The match got of on a cagey note, both sides probing but none really making headway. Mwamba had enjoyed more possession in the first 5 minutes, before Quins made their mark on the game, scoring just before the break for a 5-0 lead.

Mwamba came back charging at the Quins but could not break the well structured Quins defence. The quartered shirts held on before scoring in the closing stages of the second half to progress into the final with the score board reading Quins 12-0 Mwamba.

The other semi final saw Homeboyz upset many pundits as they edged out Impala 17-14 to complete the final line up.

The Finals

Shield Final

G4S Pirates vs British Army Spartans

Bowl Final

Savanna Stormers vs Kisumu RFC

Plate Final

Menengai Oil Nakuru vs Kilunda

Main Cup Final

Lunch Bar Quins vs Homeboyz

G4S Pirates were the first winners on the day, narrowly seeing off the British Army 12-10 to claim the Shield title. That win coming down to match fitness, the British Army lacked in this department greatly, had they been fitter there is no telling what they could have achieved here.

Action from the Shield final. (Photo - shutterdiplomacy.com)

The bowl final saw the Savanna Stormers cap a great weekend by beating Kisumu 12-5, to claim the title. The Stormers showed a lot of promise and heart over the two days, considering the Pool they were handed, it was a spirited performance from the Athi river side. With the Machakos County government set to allocate them a piece of land, things are definitely look up for the Stormers.

The Bowl winners.

It was a forgettable outing for Kisumu RFC, their largely young side failed to click, though they can carry the lessons from here into Dala.

In the Plate, Nakuru RFC made easy work of the hosts beating them 24-0. Nakuru had a lukewarm outing with their largely youthful side under Dominique Habimana, which notably featured former Kisumu RFC lock Martin Owilla. The hosts will probably be the happiest side after Quins even after losing this final, they exceeded all expectations by making it this far. The win over Kisumu should be the highlight of their tournament.

The Plate Winners

The big final saw Ngong road neighbours Quins and Homeboyz take on each other for the Masaku title. Quins wasted no time in making their intention known, charging to a 22-0 lead at the break courtesy of tries from Nyambok, Adimo and Theuri.

Homeboyz tried getting back into the match with an improved effort in the second half but found it difficult to breach the Quins line, going over the chalk once to make the final score 22-7. The Homeboyz will definitely be buoyed by their performance, given theirs was the youngest side of the top 6 teams.

Quins successfully defended the title they won here a year back, they were a step ahead of the rest, being able to switch play as the situation dictated, point in case the Semi final and Final. In the Semi they avoided the physical confrontation with Mwamba opting to play quick balls off the set pieces, in the final however, they turned up the physicality. Dominating the Homeboyz at the contact area, one thing was constant though, their defence that let in only one try over the two days, that was in game 1 against the Stormers.

The CHAMPIONS!!!

The tournament MVP went rightfully to Kevin Keagan of Quins, who ran the show over the two days. The slim playmaker was behind every Quins attack had a field day pulling the strings, he was an absolute joy to watch as he curved out defences at will. Others in this category were the Kisumu RFC sweeper my memory fails me on the name and Leornard Mugaisi.

The top try scorer was Homeboyz captain Leornard Mugaisi, who was in top flying form over the two days. Most promising player went to a Kilunda player, whose name escapes my memory, another name that comes to mind is Dominic Mose of the Stormers.

Overall it was a great two days of sevens rugby, better quality than we had last year, the tournament has grown tremendously and it's hard to believe that it's only in it's second year. Think the organisers should maintain it as a curtain raiser for the sevens circuit, to keep it's carnival mood. Management of the entry points, parking, results transmission, documentation especially on line and game schedules are areas the team can improve on. Otherwise it was a very memorable weekend, some of us will struggle to make such memories again..already looking forward to next year...

KWISHA....Nimeruka Nje!!