This years edition will be making a come back to its home for the first time in 10 years. The tournament was last held at the Railways club in 2003. For many this weekend will be the first time they have witnessed a full tournament rather a rugby match at the grounds.
Like in Dala, 32 teams divided into two divisions are lined up to take part in this year's edition. This will be a permanent feature throughout this year's circuit with the division two aimed at growing rugby in the area the tournament is held.
The games will be played at the Railways and UoN grounds, with the division 1 matches exclusively at the Railways grounds. Division two teams will play the early matches at the railways before making the trip to the university grounds then later back to Railways.
Division 2
Division 2 is headlined by Kabras Sugar, the cup winners in Dala. The sugar boys, (many of whom are mercenaries) are expected to once again blow away the field in this division. With promotion and demotion between the divisions set for next season, you sense they will be running the show here throughout the series. |
| David Dinda of Kabras in full flight at Dala |
Kabras are pooled alongside Bungoma, Mt. Kenya University and Makueni in Pool E. They will be kicking off the tournament against Mt. Kenya at 8:20 am. Bungoma Plate semi finalists in Dala are expected to pose the greatest challenge to Kabras here. MKU who won the bowl last weekend will be out to spoil the party for the two top seeds.
Makueni are making their debut on the Kenya rugby scene after making their presence felt (in t shirts) at Masaku. You could say that the Makueni boys (not na band), have been thrown into the deep end, they will be looking to emulate fellow new comers Kabras, and neighbours Masaku.
KCA who dropped from division 1 in favour of Nondies, are seeded second and headline Pool F. They will be looking to challenge Kabras at the end of the pool stages. They are joined by Masaku, USIU and AP Embakasi.
Masaku have had two great outings, winning the Plate in their home tournament and falling at the semi in the same stage in Kisumu. They will look to challenge KCA in this pool and probably beat USIU twice in 3 weeks while at it. AP Embakasi from the mtaa set up in Nairobi will be looking to gauge themselves against tougher opponents.
Catholic University, losing finalists from Dala headline Pool G with Comra-s heading Pool H. In Pool G, CUEA will be joined by TUK, Thika and Dandora. TUK were losing Plate finalists in Dala and should be a side to look out for alongside Thika. Dandora should bring an exciting challenge in this Pool.
The Comras, one of the success stories of Mtaa rugby will be joined by Kakamega, Moi Uni and Multimedia. The Comras were third place finishers in Dala and will be looking to make the final here. They got that finish after Kakamega failed to turn up for the play off so expect the unfinished business to be completed when they meet at 3:30 pm in the last game at UoN.
Pool E : Kabras, Bungoma, MKU, Makueni
Pool F : KCA, Masaku, USIU, AP Embakasi
Pool G : Catholic, TUK, Thika, Dandora
Pool H : Comras, Kakamega, Moi Uni, MMU.
Division 1
The big boys will be headlined by 2013 Dala Champions the Strathmore Leos. The Leos who breezed past Mwamba 32-10 in the final are in a manageable Pool A alongside Daystar, Kisumu and Nondies. The leos will be going for their second Kabeberi title after winning it in 2010.
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| Dala Champions.. (Photo - KRU) |
Daystar were the surprise package in Dala, beating Nakuru to make it to the cup quarter on day 2. They however found the going tough when they met Strathmore who beat them 29-0. They will be looking for a better score when they meet in this pool. Kisumu, Bowl winners will be looking to better their home performance.
Nondies will finally be getting their sevens season going at Kabeberi. The white shirts failed to make the trip to Dala due to financial reasons. A joke was going round rugby circles that they would have saved the money they used during their 90 year anniversary to make it to Dala, since they don't have that much to celebrate hehe. Moving on, the white shirts are expected to make it to the cup from this pool.
Losing finalists at Dala and hosts Mwamba headline Pool B and are joined by Homeboyz, Stormers and Egerton. Mwamba lost twice to Strathmore in Dala and will be looking forward to an opportunity to meet the Leos once again. They will however have to get past a tricky Homeboyz side, the spirited Stormers and Egerton first.
Homeboyz, losing Plate semi finalists in Dala will be looking to repeat their feat in Masaku where they made it to the cup final. The young side with the likes of Oscar Ayodi, Joshua Chisanga, Augustine Lugonzo, Leornard Mugaisi and Haroun Lubisia are an explosive lot.
The Stormers will be looking to keep their good form going, where they have made it to two Bowl finals in as many weeks. Egerton will be looking to improve on their Dala outing where they lost at the Shield Semis and finished second from last in this division.
Third place finishers KCB headline what is set to be the Pool of Death at Kabeberi, Pool C. The Bankers are joined by Western Bulls, Nakuru and Eldoret. The first three all have a real shout at the Cup quarters. Nakuru will probably need this more than the other two after a disastrous outing in Kisumu, where they failed to make it past the Bowl semis.
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| Brian Omondi of KCB in action against Quins (Photo - KRU) |
Western Bulls were losers in the plate finals and will be out to make it to the latter stages in the cup this time. Watch out for Bush Mwale, that is if he will get a leave pass from his House Master at Kach High school, yes he is still in Form 4.
KCB will feel hard done after the semi loss to Mwamba in Dala where there were loud claims of referee bias. That match saw the lions head coach Curtis Olago sent to the stands and is set to miss the next two legs due to a ban. Expect the green shirts to come out roaring for revenge as they look to take home the Kabeberi title only for the second time in history.
Defending Kabeberi Champions Quins headline Pool D, they are joined by Ngong road rivals Impala, Blakblad and Machine. This pool is almost a repeat of Dala's pool A which featured the first three sides and Eldoret.
This one will feature two derbies, the Ngong road one between Quins and Impala and a version of the Universities one between Blad and Machine. Quins beat the two sides in Dala and will be looking for a repeat and keep their campaign for a third Kabeberi title in a row.
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| George Okowa of Impala against Eden Agero of Quins |
Impala were impressive in Dala, going home with the Plate title, they will be looking to break into the Cup semi final and get past their Ngong road neighbours. Blad usually get the better of Machine in the shorter version and will be looking to keep this dominance going and perhaps upset the Ngong road neighbours.
It is set to be two days of great sevens rugby with upto 4 sides with a clear shot at the title. The availability of the sevens players from Sri Lanka will do little in deciding which way the 25th title of the George Mwangi Kabeberi sevens will head.
With that ladies and gents...do enjoy the long weekend.
KWISHA, Nimeruka Nje!!!
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