Ndovu crush Rwenzori to lift Series crown
Rugby
By
- BS MULAVI
| Jun 02, 2013
By BS MULAVI
Ndovu franchise are the new Bamburi Rugby Super Series champions.
The Kenyan side defeated Rwenzori from Uganda 24-18 at the RFUEA grounds to emerge the superior team after five weeks of grueling rugby action in East Africa. Speaking to FeverPitch after the victory, Ndovu coach Dominique Habimana praised his team for the massive effort saying they deserved the victory after displaying a solid display.
“We overcame quite a bit of errors from our end to eventually dominate the game and win,” said Habimana during post-match interview.
“We knew we had to keep eighty minutes of pressure on the opponents and any slumping would have been punished,” he added.
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Despite winning the trophy, Habimana claimed the final would have been tougher had the original Nyumbu team remained in the tournament.
Nyumbu were favourites to lift the trophy but after a dispute with the organising committee of the tournament over the venue of their semi-final match, the original team members refused to continue taking part in the tournament.
This prompted the Kenya Rugby Union to hastily assemble a team to take over from the players who had boycotted the tournament.
The new Nyumbu players eventually lost to Rwenzori in Kampala and followed that with a 44-19 loss to Papa in the third and fourth play-off that preceded the finals, yesterday.
Papa coach Paul Odera echoed the sentiments of the Ndovu coach by claiming they would have had a much more difficult time had they played the original Nyumbu franchise.
“It is unfortunate that the game is currently shaped by too much action happening outside the pitch,” lamented Odera.
“We would have preferred rugby to be known for what happens in the pitch. However, we are glad to have come out in the top three, it wasn’t easy despite all the drama that it has come with it, but we grew as a team and have got massive experience that I believe the players will benefit from,” added Odera.
Meanwhile, KRU chairman Mwangi Muthee announced the Kenya National Fifteens team that was selected after the tournament, but his announcement was overshadowed by the resignation of the Fifteens team Manager Wangila Simiyu.