Laiser Hill strike maiden rugby 7’s win: Chavakali and St Peters Mumias complete Kenya’s 1-2-3 finish

Laiser Hill players perfom a haka after winning the East Africa rugby sevens title.

Moi Girls  Kamusinga fall to Uganda’s Kibuli Secondary School from Uganda for the second year running.

Laiser Hill won their maiden rugby sevens title at the 2018 Brookside East Africa Secondary School games in Musanze, Rwanda, yesterday.

The national champions beat Uganda’s Jinja Secondary School 22-0 in the finals inside Busogo University to end the round-robin competition with unbeaten run.

It was a befitting end to six days of riveting action as Laiser Hill completed a double after winning the national championships in Eldoret last month.

Laiser Hill skipper Clinton Kioko described the win as the perfect way to realize their dreams.

“To win the East African title is not an easy feat but we have toiled and made a lot of sacrifices so as to achieve success. We can now savour every moment of it as we plan for more success in the future,” Kioko said yesterday.

Laiser Hill came into the match on the back of six straight wins that included triumphs against  Kenyan sides Chavakali and Menegai High School. And they wasted no time in underlining their intentions as Charles Tendwa raced clear for the first try. Fredrick Odongo converted it as the champions ran away with a 10-0 lead at the break.

Jinja resorted to a more physical approach in the second half and the opening exchanges resulted in a scrappy play. Laiser Hill, however, outwitted them as a brace of tries from Samuel Were and one from Fredrick Onyango pulled them clear.

Chavakali and St Peters Mumias completed Kenya’s rugby sevens 1-2-3 finish in a similar fashion they did in the national games to push hosts Rwanda and Uganda out of the medal bracket.

Kenya also dominated rugby 15’s as Kakamega and Menengai won and bronze after winning their last round matches. Menengai beat Namilyango College 25-3 while Kakamega whipped St Mary’s Kisubi 58-3. Upper Hill stood out as the new champions after topping the table.

In handball, Kenya failed in its quest to win the gold as Moi Girls Kamusinga narrowly went down 20-19 to champions Kibuli Secondary School of Uganda in the final.  Kenya’s Girls won bronze.