Rugby: Nakuru to meet KCB in Kenya Cup final

By BS MULAVI and BEN AHENDA

Nakuru and Strathmore players get down to business in the Kenya Cup semis, yesterday. [PHOTO: BONIFACE THUKU]

Kenya Commercial Bank qualified for the finals of the Kenya Cup with an impressive 24-8 victory over Harlequins at the RFUEA grounds on Saturday.

At Nakuru Athletic Club, defending champions Top Fry Nakuru RFC romped into the finals League after rolling over Strathmore Leos 30-16 in a pulsating semi final encounter last evening.

In Nairobi, the Bankers proved to be the better side of the day, dominating the hosts in the early exchanges of the game through a much more mobile pack and a quick backline that not only attacked when given the chance to, but they also defended well when called upon.

This will come as a painful defeat to Quins given that they had highly advocated for the Kenya Cup Semi-finals to be delayed so as to wait for the Vodacom Cup to end before the games could be played.                                    The games were subsequently postponed but the hosts had to contend with a home loss that cuts their Kenya Cup campaign short.

According to KCB coach Curtis Olago, his boys wanted the victory more and they rightfully got the victory.

 “We kept it tight and  it worked out well,” he said. “I made a technical change in bringing Dennis Mwanja in, early in the first half and he played very well for us.”

On his part, Nakuru coach Dominique Habimana praised his boys for the victory and is more focused for the final.

“It was a difficult and explosive match despite a few hiccups here and there,” he told FeverPitch in a post match interview.

Olago feels they will use the experience gained from their loss in the Enterprise Cup final last weekend to be put up a much better battle in the Kenya Cup.

“We have a game plan that we will use to beat Nakuru and I am not willing to divulge this at this point but what I can tell you, is that you need to watch this space,” he explained.

Nakuru will enter into next weekend’s final a confident lot, given that they are the defending champions and they are fresh from winning the Enterprise Cup.

Defending champions scored four tries with two conversions and two penalties against two tries and two penalties from Leos.