Butula High School and All Saints Embu, rugby powerhouses, have booked a ticket in the semi-finals of the EASSSA games rugby 15s currently going on in Mbale, Uganda. In Tuesday’s event, coached Libondo Shimenga-Butula tore apart Kitondo School in a 42-3 thrashing at Mbale Rugby Union grounds. This followed their opening game 60-0 win over Kings College.
“We are here for the trophy,” said Shimenga confidently. “However, we have the final hurdle in the group stage against Makerere. We want to win the game convincingly so that we top the group.”
An impressive performance was pulled through by All Saints Embu as they thrashed Lenana School 45-11, taking a strong lead at half-time, 35-5. The success comes after they narrowly beat defending regional champions St Mary’s Kisubi 24-23 in their opening match. Coach Benson Mwenda said, “The first game against St Mary’s was tough because they are the champions. But we came here to win this tournament. We want to prove people that we didn’t win the Kenyan title by fluke.”
Mwenda has called out that his team is focused on every match, “We are taking all our games seriously. We want to make Kenya proud by winning the regional trophy.
In the Wednesday concluding group stage, All Saints Embu will play Namilyango College and Butula Makerere College. In a match that has been described as a decisive one, Lenana School will come up against the defending champions St Mary’s Kisubi, while Kitondo will take on Kings College Buddo.
In the rugby 7s competition that also started on Tuesday, Vihiga Boys narrowly edged Kisii School out 12-7, while national champions Friends School Bwake whitewashed Rwanda’s Gitisi 32-0. St. Mary’s Yala saw off Dr. Obote of Uganda. Wednesday’s schedule will pitch Vihiga Boys against Gitisi, Kisii against Friends School Bwake, while St Mary’s Yala locks horns with Jinja Secondary School.
National girl’s rugby champions St Joseph’s Kitale landed a winning start of 32-0 against Nyagichenche in the opener of the tournament. “St Joseph’s were the better team today but now shift focus to the next game,” said Nyagichenche coach Dennis Onyango.
Next for St Joseph’s Kitale will be Jinja Secondary from Uganda, as its all-Kenyan affair pits St Theresa’s Kithimu against Kinale Girls, while Nyagichenche will also be up against Jinja Secondary School.