By BS MULAVI

Nakuru RFC players hold the trophy after winning the Enterprise Cup against KCB in the final at the RFUEA grounds, yesterday. [PHOTO: JENNIFER WACHIE/ STANDARD]

Nakuru RFC are the new champions of the Enterprise Cup after beating Kenya Commercial Bank 18-13 in a tight duel at the RFUEA grounds on Saturday evening.

Speaking to FeverPitch after the emphatic victory, head coach Dominique Habimana claimed they will take the top honours, but they would have preferred less ‘heart attacks’ in the process.

The two sides exchanged leads through different intervals of the game and Nakuru are happy that the final whistle blew after a vital try.

“We lost our focus a bit in the first half, but I talked to the team in the second and we were able to get back to our game plan,” he said.

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Contest progressed

Nakuru started off the game the stronger side but KCB slowly got back to pace as the contest progressed even though they never really got their set-pieces right.

Throughout the game, Nakuru gave KCB problems in the scrum-downs and the Bankers were reduced to a shell of the burly forwards that are renowned in rugby in Nairobi.

The frustration was visible from the KCB forwards, who started being more confrontational against the Nakuru forwards once they noticed that they could not really compete in the set-pieces.

“We knew emotions would run high in this game,” said Habimana, “we are conversant with the under-hand tactics from a player like Anthony Ogot, and we had already discussed with the players not to get sucked in to unnecessary punching of players.”

According to Habimana, Nakuru have proved to be the true champions after overcoming various odds such as KCB’s underhand tactics.

Nakuru are extremely glad that they did not repeat the same mistakes from last year that saw them ranked as the favourites of the tournament only to be knocked out by Mwamba in the finals.

The champions have now switched their focus to the remaining fixtures of the season, which includes the semi-finals of the Kenya Cup, where they will meet Strathmore in May after the conclusion of the Bamburi Rugby Super Series.

“Now that we are Enterprise Cup champions, it does not make the remaining games in the season any easier, in facts now teams will come much harder at us, and we have to prepare for that,” Habimana concluded.

This is Nakuru’s first major trophy of the season, with KCB having scooped the Impala Floodlit, now all club rugby focus shifts to the most coveted trophy of the region; the Kenya Cup.                 ––brainsagala@gmail.com