By BS MULAVI

The Kenya National 15s rugby team captain Joel Ng’ang’a believes all is not lost after their demoralising 19-5 loss to Uganda in the Elgon Cup on Saturday.

According to the seasoned Kenya Harlequin front row, the team still has all to play for when the two teams meet again for the return fixture in Nairobi.

Kenyatta University Blak Blad rugby players celebrate after winning the Nationwide league title at the weekend. [PHOTO: MARTIN MUKANGU/STANDARD]

"We had a lot of mistakes and we simply did not play according to our game plan," said Ng’ang’a.

"We believe we can still win against Uganda, that is if we are able to execute what we learn during practice," he added.

"We feel that we played very well against their forwards but we were a bit lax with the wide balls and by the time we will be playing in Nairobi, we would have looked into that matter," Ng’ang’a contemplated.

With eight new caps in the squad, the side should not beat themselves up too much for the result, but they should rather take it as a learning opportunity.

Meanwhile, Kenyatta’s University Blak Blad beat Mombasa 27-3 to win the Nationwide league.

Top league

It is not yet clear whether the victory ensures Kenya Cup promotion as the Kenya Rugby Union grapples with clubs over expansion of the country’s top league.

Despite the uncertainty, Blak Blad coach Ivan Wataka has expressed his team’s interest in competing against the top sides in the country.

Wataka feels they have been playing against the same sides for the past five years and have dominated, which means they need a new challenge no matter how hard.

"Whether we gain promotion is upto the Kenya Rugby Union, but if we are called upon we will do all we can to honour all our fixtures, even when the University is on holiday and we will not be the whipping boys but rather a competitive outfit," said Wataka.

Blak Blad has been knocking on the door of promotion for quite some years but have been ignored. This year, it might be inevitable for the Union to consider their call, especially with all the grappling that took place in the beginning of the season when Kisumu and Homeboyz were promoted while Blak Blad was left out.