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The Nairobian

HOMEBOYZ TAME BULLS: Coach Murunga praises his charges as they return to winning ways in Kenya Cup

Rugby

By BS MULAVI | Nov 23, 2014

Western Bulls (Calves) Tedd Akala, with the ball, challenges Hillary Kiyto of Home Byz 2 at Harlequin ground on Saturday, November 22nd, 2014. Photo/Jonah Onyango.

Homeboyz RFC put away their past demons as they returned to winning ways in the Kenya Cup over the weekend. Homeboyz registered a hard-fought 25-17 win over Western Bulls at the RFUEA Grounds to win their second match of the campaign.

Speaking after the game, Homeboyz coach Paul Murunga claimed that they lost to Impala last weekend because they struggled under the floodlights. "The high balls from Impala fly-half Nato Simiyu were difficult to deal with under the floodlit and we were beaten easily," he explained. "Today we were back under the sun and we played the way we are used to."

Murunga said he never lost confidence in his team despite the big loss to Impala and even when the game was tight against Western Bulls he always knew that they had the potential to emerge victorious.

"We could have won this game by an even bigger margin and got the bonus point, but we were short of time and we will settle for the victory," he added.

Speaking after the loss, Western Bulls coach Brian Makalama said that they will use the loss to learn for the future. "Sometimes you need a loss so that it can show you, your weaknesses and what you need to do in future as the campaign progresses."

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Meanwhile Strathmore RFC registered an emphatic 49-3 victory over Mean Machine at the Impala grounds on Friday evening. Mitch Ocholla's side proved too strong for the University of Nairobi students, who continue to struggle in the Kenya Cup matches.

Ocholla said he was impressed by his team's performance especially now that he had rested half the squad that had played against Blak Blad last weekend. He feels that his side has been building depth in the tournament and insists that they are in a good position to battle for the main title.

"The boys that were called upon to play today, performed exceptionally well, which gives us some confidence in our depth as the Kenya Cup progresses," he said. "We will continue to rotate the squad so that we can keep the boys fresh and to be able to have options in our game plan."

In the other fixtures of the weekend, Impala RFC beat Kenya Harlequin 33-22 at the RFUEA grounds, while Mwamba RFC beat Nondies 43-13 at the Impala grounds. According to Mwamba coach John Mbai, the score did not indicate how difficult the game was and he gave credit to Nondies for a hard game.

Elsewhere, Japan and Argentina have officially been given approval to enter teams in an expanded Super Rugby tournament from 2016, adds Reuters reports.

Their places were confirmed at an executive board meeting in London on Thursday, paving the way for the two new franchises to start signing players. The Japanese team will be based in Tokyo, but will also play three home matches a year in Singapore, while the Argentine side will play in Buenos Aires.

An additional team from South Africa, the Southern Kings, will also join the expanded competition, South Africa, New Zealand and Australian Rugby (SANZAR) announced. "It gives us great pleasure to welcome the JRFU (Japan Rugby Football Union) and UAR (Union Argentina de Rugby), who will join the Kings from South Africa as Super Rugby prepares to expand into a bold and exciting new era," SANZAR Chief Executive Greg Peters said.