2025 Impala Floodlights dates announced
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Reading Time: 2min | Tue. 19.08.25. | 09:35
The tournament provides teams with a chance to test combinations and sharpen tactics ahead of the Kenya Cup, KRU Championship, and Nationwide campaigns.
The iconic Impala Floodlit tournament is set to make its return later this year, with matches scheduled to run from October through November 2025 across the Impala Club and RFUEA Grounds.
Preliminary fixtures are slated for Saturday, 18 October, followed by the second round on Saturday, 25 October, before the tournament culminates in the grand finals on Saturday, 1 November.
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Menengai Oilers will enter the competition as defending champions, a title they clinched in 2024 after powering to a historic 42-3 triumph over hosts Impala RFC in the final.
The victory marked the Oilers’ maiden Floodlit crown and cemented their growing reputation in Kenyan rugby.
The 2024 final began with a tense exchange of penalties, with Impala taking an early 3-0 lead. But the Oilers quickly stamped their authority, skipper Ibrahim Ayoo crossing the whitewash to hand them a 5-3 advantage.
From there, the floodgates opened. Samuel Mwaura’s clever dummy extended the lead before Celestine Mboi bulldozed his way over from a maul to make it 17-3.
Even after Kenyan international Denis Abukuse was sent off for a dangerous tackle, Oilers showed no signs of slowing down.
Mboi bagged his second try, and second-half substitutes Elkeans Musonye and Amos Obae injected fresh energy, with Obae scoring a brace and Clinton Odhiambo adding another.
By full time, the Oilers had sealed a commanding 42-3 win, erasing the heartbreak of 2019 when they lost their first-ever Floodlit final to KCB.
For Impala RFC, a seven-time champion, the wait for silverware continues. The Gazelles last lifted the Floodlit crown in 2016 and had reached back-to-back finals in 2017 and 2018 but fell short on both occasions.
KCB Rugby remain the most successful side in the tournament’s history with 10 titles, including a remarkable five-year streak between 2017 and 2023.
Their dominance was finally ended in dramatic fashion in the 2024 quarterfinals, when Blak Blad edged them 9-8. Mean Machine follow closely with nine titles, their successes spanning from 1984 through 2011.
Beyond the pursuit of trophies, the Impala Floodlit retains its reputation as a vital preseason stage for Nairobi- and Nakuru-based clubs.
It provides teams with a chance to test combinations and sharpen tactics ahead of the Kenya Cup, KRU Championship, and Nationwide campaigns.
