Rugby: KCB on brink of Sevens glory

KCB's Moses Amusala (center) thrusts past Kabras Sugar's Geoffrey Shitambasi (right) as teammate Emphraim Oduor tries to intervene during a past Kenya Cup match. (Photo:Courtesy)

The season-ending Driftwood leg will determine the overall winner with KCB in pole position to claim the honours.

The battle for this year’s national Sevens Circuit is set to go down to the wire at the Driftwood Sevens in Mombasa  this weekend with leaders KCB in pole position to bag the title.

The bankers, who claimed a sudden death 12-7 win over Nakuru RFC at the Christie Sevens final over the weekend, sit pretty at the top of the standings with 94 points, 10 more than Mwamba and Nakuru, who jointly occupy second position.

Circuit defending champions Homeboyz saw their chances of claiming back-to-back titles go up in smoke as they maintained third spot after picking 13 points at the Christie event.

At least a fifth-place finish for the bankers in Mombasa will guarantee them the overall title regardless of Mwamba or Nakuru’s performance but KCB coach Denis Mwanja says they will be seeking to go all the way.

“We are looking past that and we want to make history. We have no reason not to win the last tournament with the experience we have in the team. That should translate to good results,” said Mwanja, who also led KCB to the Main Cup titles at the Kakamega and Dala tournaments.

In their Christie Sevens triumph, Mwanja’s charges, who last won the Circuit in 2014, had to negotiate a tricky quarter final against MMUST before coming from behind to beat close challengers Mwamba in the semi final.

It was a good response from KCB, having faltered at the third leg, Prinsloo Sevens where they disappointingly finished fifth.

“We had planned to take everything but we fell short twice and we have decided that we are not setting the pace for anyone. We had to dig deep to beat Mwamba and that was not a walk in the park especially on the second day,” said Mwanja.

“The team is even more confident now and we are looking forward to the last leg. We are not looking at Mwamba but we are competing with ourselves,” added Mwanja.

KCB dominated the Christie Sevens team of the tournament with four of their players Andrew Amonde, Michael Wanjala, Geoffrey Okwach and Levy Amunga all making the seven-man list.

In addition, Amunga was also feted as the Most Valuable Player at the two-day tournament. The former Blak Blad half-back also emerged as the joint top try scorer alongside Mark Wandeto of Homeboyz.