Rugby: Defending champions Kabras set up quarter-final clash with Mwamba

Homeboyz coach credits team’s depth following round of 16 victory over Kenya Harlequin.

Homeboyz coach Hector Jason credited his team’s depth following their 39-13 win over Kenya Harlequin in the Enterprise Cup round of 16 at the weekend.

The victory at the RFUEA ground was the Deejays’ third over Quins this season, having beaten them twice (26-13 and 48-3) in the Kenya Cup league.

Jason’s charges, who won the Enterprise Cup in 2018, will now face Nondescripts in the quarter-finals of the knock out competition next month.

“Our depth really worked for us. We made a couple of positional changes and still managed to show some positive signs. That’s good for a coach because it tells us we are on the right track. We’ll keep pushing hard as we try to improve every single time,” Jason said.

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The South African coach said there was pressure for them to secure progression especially after Quins drew first blood in the game through Elisha Koronya’s converted try.

“We treat every match with utmost seriousness because it would be disrespectful if you don’t take your opposition seriously,” said Jason.

“We can only go up from here and the positive thing is that we have gone a step better than we did last season.”

Quins coach Dominique Habimana blamed their wastefulness for the loss as they shift focus to the league where they will travel to Western Bulls this weekend.

“We were not perfect when it came to taking our chances in the final third and that really let us down. We created a lot of chances but it’s unfortunate that we didn’t make them count,” he said.

The round of 16 matches were overshadowed by the withdrawal of four teams including Kenya Cup strugglers Kisumu RFC and Western Bulls, who failed to travel to Nairobi to face Mwamba and Kenyatta University’s Blak Blad respectively.

Consequently, Mwamba received a walkover to the last eight where they will face defending champions Kabras Sugar who thrashed Menengai Oilers 49-19 in Kakamega.

KRU Championship side MMUST, who were scheduled to tackle Nondescripts at the Jamhuri Showground, also gave the fixture a wide berth while Nakuru RFC received a walkover at the expense of Egerton University.

Former Enterprise Cup winners KCB saw off a resilient Strathmore Leos side 27-3 to set up a quarter-final clash with Blak Blad while Impala Saracens will tackle Nakuru RFC following their win over University of Nairobi’s Mean Machine at the weekend.