KCB draw first blood as Kabeberi Sevens end at Nairobi Railway Club

KCB’s Allan Omuka (right) and teamamate in action.[PHOTO:DENNIS OKEYO/STANDARD]

Kenya National Rugby Sevens circuit champions Kenya Commercial Bank, kicked off their title defense with a resounding victory in the Kabeberi Sevens to take pole position in the circuit.

The Bankers emerged 24-0 victors over Kenya Harlequin in the finals of the tournament after an action-packed weekend at the Railway Club. Speaking after the victory, KCB coach Curtis Olago claimed they remain humble in victory and they know that this is only the beginning.

"We know we may be a bit fortunate with the bounce of the ball this weekend, but you must also remember that luck only favours the prepared," he said. "We are glad for the great start and we look forward to the remaining four legs of the circuit for which we know we have to stay consistent."

In the earlier fixture of the day, Impala RFC walked away as Plate champions of the tournament after they beat surprise package Catholic University of East Africa (CUEA) 21-19 in a tough final. CUEA proved to be a tough a nut to crack, following their impressive performance on the first day.

Meanwhile, Nondies RFC emerged the Bowl champions of the tournament after beating Daystar University 20-7 in the Bowl final. Nondies head coach Victor Walgwe said that despite not winning the main cup trophy, they were glad that they still emerged a winner in a category in the tournament.

"Whatever level we start at, it is still a start," said Walgwe, "like every team in the competition we started by aiming for the main cup competition, unfortunately that couldn't happen due to our bad results from the first day of the competition," he told FeverPitch yesterday.

"This is the first time in a while that we get to play in all the legs of the circuit and I believe that we will perform better with every tournament," he added.

In the lowest category of the Division 1 category, University of Nairobi's Mean Machine won the shield competition after beating Kisumu RFC 21-0 in the Shield final. Mean Machine interim coach Michael Mutuku said they were happy with the victory even though that is not where they would have wished to be.

"The tournament has given us a chance to gauge  ourselves and we know it can get better," said Mutuku.

"These are young players with little experience and for now we will take the result," he added.

Meanwhile in Division two, Egerton University emerged champions after beating Technical University of Kenya 21-0 in the final. Speaking after the game, Egerton University head coach Enos Otieno praised his troops saying that they will definitely progress as the circuit continues.