Kenya Rugby 15s season Post-Mortem
2009 arguably witnessed one of the longest, tiring but exciting 15s Kenya season. There were winners indeed and there were losers. However the buck must stop with the KRFU. How they continue to run/administer the game in Kenya while at the same time flout their own rules is indeed a mystery.
The managers of the game have indeed taken a straight leaf from George Orwell's best seller 'Animal Farm', with the golden rule being 'All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others'. SOYA should not repeat the mistake of giving KRFU the award they absolutely did not deserve early this year.
Highs
The Bamburi Super Rugby Tournament continued with its expansion this time with the Ugandan teams of Ruwenzori and Victoria Impis replacing the Tanzanias in the regional tournament. The games in Kampala received good support and the Ugandans had adequately prepared themselves as they debutted in the Super Rugby Tournament. Kenyan teams were floored in Kampala and thus Ruwenzori made it to the semi-finals at their first attempt. Their gallant march was however halted by Kenyan side Rhinos who eventually went on to win the tournament at the RFUEA grounds.
The IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy Championship was held in Kenya for the first time ever. The competition brought in 8 quality teams from all over the world as Kenya went on to finish 4th in a well deserved placing for the under 19s. The team had players who if well guided and exposed could actually give Kenya a strong chance of qualifying for the 2015 Rugby World Cup under the guidancee of a good qualified experinced coach.
Impala then started their season on a high note winning their own floodlit tournament in front of a record crowd at their Ngong Road home. The popularity of this tournament cannot be overlooked as it also received good corporate support. However one must wonder when Impala Rugby will invest in proper floodlights at their ground to improve the quality of the tournament as it is the only one of its kind in East African rugby.
The national 15s team under Michael Tank Otieno finished runners-up in the Africa Rugby Championship held in Morocco. The host country were the winners in a tournament that felt the absence of Tunisia, Uganda, Madagascar and Zimbabwe. National pride was lifted by Kenya's victory over Uganda in the Annual Elgon Cup.
The Africa under 18 Rugby Championships were held in Kenya and Zimbabwe were the justified winners after having lost the right to host the tournament after a 'cholera' outbreak in Harare. Zimbabwe were third time lucky beating Namibia in a one-sided game 39-7. Kenya finished fourth.
The Kenya Cup reduced by Mombasa's exit was a closely fought affair. KCB, Quins, Impala and Nakuru challenged for honours but in the end it was Impala who raced away stripping the next door Quins of the title. At the bottom end Mwamba only flattered to deceive while Nondies were the most improved team in the second leg. Mean Machine and Strathmore fought hard to avoid the basement but their fate was long sealed in the first leg. Quins were winners of the second tier Eric Shirley Shield.
The Enterprise and Supremacy Cup were exchanged between Quins and Impala respectively but in the end Impala carried off the bragging rights as the most dominant 15's club side of 2009. KCB were Mwamba Cup winners while Quins won the second tier Supremacy Cup.
Lows
The season was too long with too many international tournaments in the season itself.
The organisation of the Africa under 18 championship was a disgracefully poorly organised affair.
The national 15's side had a poor showing despite winning the meaningless Elgon Cup.
The Kenya Cup, Eric Shirley, Enterprise, Mwamba Cup and Supremacy Cup had no sponsorship yet clubs and officials invested a lot for a nil return.
Refereeing by our local whistlers was below par.
The KRFU broke its own rules regarding running of its own tournaments and unashamedly were biased in favour of Impala Club much to the detriment of the rest of Kenya Rugby.
Womens rugby was all but in name.
One duly wonders whether 2010 will see an improved season.
2 Comments:
Mwamba rfc & Heathens RFC from Uganda are beginning to have some interesting cross border rivalry.Heathens defeated Mwamba RFC 22-17 in a pulsating MAKERERE HIMA 10's final that should have ended well but ended in controversy.Apparently the hooter run out of gas,the touch judges took time to get the referees attention & he did not have the professionalism to inform both captains he would end the game with his whistle.In all the confusion he ended up using 23 minutes in 2nd half which enabled Mwamba score a late try to bring the scores to 22-17 then he blew for the end of the game not allowing Mwamba convert.To be fair Heathens were the better side,though lacking spcae wide,they had too much power & defended well + that veteran Robert Seguya(eventuall MVP) putting up a virtuoso performance to score 2 brilliant individual tries & it was Heathens 22-Mwamba 12 at full time before the referee got confused!Mwmaba scored first through Horace Othieno,then in the second half through Collo,with Ahenda crossing the line in the final minute.Heathens 2 other tries were by Evans Kingasia & some brilliant footwork from Jude Kerremundu.Till next year
correction: the referee played 17 minutes not 23 minutes in the second half. secondly, the referee was not informed by the officials table that the hooter ran out of gas prior to the game so he could not inform either of the captains that he would be the one ending the game. he was timing the game and was aware that more than 15 minutes had been played but he gamely waited for the hooter to sound (a mistake). he finally ended the game when one of the touch judge informed him that the officials table had sent word that the hooter had run out of gas and time was up. it was at that point he got confused and blew that time was up without giving mwamba a chance to convert.
mwamba showed their one dimensionalism when they consistently tried to get the ball to collins yet he had been marked out of the game. he looked pretty ordinary on sunday and uncharacteristically knocked on when not under pressure.
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