Impala leap to RUGBY safety: Gazelles survive Shark attack, perched on league top

IMPALA FLOODLIGHTS RUGBY CUP KCB's Nesta Okoth(R)make run with the ball against Edgar Obino of Impala during Impala Floodlights 2015 rugby final at Impala ground, Nairobi on Saturday 31/10/15.PHOTO.BONIFACE OKENDO

Impala's head coach Fred Ollows expects a tight finish in the Kenya Cup as his team took pole position in the league.

The Gazelles moved top after beating Kenya Sharks from Bungoma 121-10 at the Impala grounds on Saturday evening. This was after former league leaders, Kenya Harlequins lost 41-17 to Kabras in Kakamega and second-placed Kenya Commercial Bank drew 27-27 with Western Bulls at the Jamhuri Park.

Ollows insists they will not let their position get to their heads.

“We are not barely half way through the league and given that only one point separates us and the second team, every weekend may see a different order on the table,” he said.

He continued: “We are concentrating at playing each game as it comes. We played well against the Sharks and four hat-tricks from the players in one game is something special.”

According to the veteran tactician, their victory was a result of proper preparation after the festive break.

“We had good attendance at training and the boys were looking extremely sharp. We now need to keep that up going forward and hope we will still be top at the end.”

The newly promoted Sharks are yet to win a match thus far, but Ollows has refused to label them as weak opposition.

“I think we won because we were sharp and prepared for the day. It is not because Sharks were poor. In fact, even when they were 100 points down, they were still fighting and they were the ones who scored the final points.”

In the other match of the day, Mwamba were bug winners over recently promoted Thika RFC, whom they beat 57-0 at the Railways Club.

Meanwhile, Top Fry Nakuru RFC picked a bonus point after whitewashing Nondies 58-16 to stay on course for a top four finish.

Eight tries and five conversions coupled with three penalties was all the hosts needed to defeat the White Shirts, who gave a good account of themselves in the first half before losing momentum in the second.

Nakuru RFC head coach Dominique Habimana said it was a good way of starting the second half of the league as they start a journey to finish among the top four teams and qualify for the play-offs.

“We want to score more points and be very consistent in winning more matches. We want to be on top of the league and we’ll do exactly that. Just keep on improving every week in our forthcoming matches,” Habimana said.

Nondies' coach Kanyi Gitonga said despite the defeat, they still have a chance of qualifying for the the play-offs just like Nakuru RFC.