Why Kabras Sugar is the team to beat in the Kenya Cup

Kabras Sugar captain Dan Sikuta (center) in action during a Kenya Cup match against KCB. [Washington Onyango,Standard]

Defending champions Kabras Sugar maintained their unbeaten run in the 2022-2023 Kenya Cup season after whitewashing archrivals KCB in a top of the table clash played over the weekend in Nairobi.

The sugar men sugarcoated their impressive 10 match-winning streak with a 29-23 victory over the bankers to improve their chances of hosting the fourth consecutive Kenya Cup final in Kakamega.

Fijian-born Kenyan international Jone Kubu starred in the match with two tries as Jeanson Musoga added one as South African Ntabeni Dukisa closed out the game with four penalties.

The victory, their second ever against the bankers at KCB Sports Club not only saw them go top of the league with 48 points but also remain only side yet to lose a match in the league.

KCB, who still got a bonus point for not losing with more than four tries dropped one place to second with 46 points.

Speaking to the Standard Sports yesterday, Kabars assistant coach Edwin Achayo said their goal now remains to win their last match and host the Kenya Cup final again.

According to the Kenya Rugby Union, the club that finishes top at the end of the 11-round regular season will host the 2023 Kenya Cup final.

Kabras will renew their rivalry with Menengai Oilers in what will be a repeat of last year's Kenya Cup final this coming Saturday and Achayo says they are keen to win the match.

"We are playing very well this season and to withstand that second half purge against KCB and rally to win against the bankers showed how far we have come. In the past years, we never finished games strong and now we are going to take that momentum to our last game against Oilers," said Achayo.

"It will be a tough one considering the ties between the two clubs and also the situation with the table where they are at a risk of dropping to fourth if they don't get a point against us. We are sorry but we want to host the Kenya Cup final so we have to win."

Oilers thumped Catholic Monks 55-0 to remain third on 36 points, four behind Kenya Harlequin.

Quins face Strathmore Leos in their final match, a game that if they win and Oilers lose without a bonus will see them leapfrog the Nakuru based side to third in the standings.

At the end of the regular season, the top four teams will qualify directly for the playoffs where the top team will play the fourth placed club as the second team host the third placed team.

Elsewhere, the battle to avoid relegation will go down to the wire as Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST), Catholic Monks and University of Nairobi's Mean Machine all fight to stay up.

MMUST are currently bottom of the log with nine points followed by Machine and Monks on 14 points each. However, MMUST has a superior point difference than the two sides.

That means a bonus point for MMUST during their last match against Mwamba will guarantee them a spot in the Kenya Cup next season but only if Monks and Machine lose.

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