KCB kickstart title defense against Harlequin in postponed Floodies clash

Curtis Olago’s KCB RFC will be looking to make their statement of intent ahead of the new 15s season in the country as they kickstart their defence of the Impala Floodlit tournament when they take on Kenya Harlequin in a postponed quarterfinal match on Wednesday evening.

Having been crowned the champions back in the last edition that took place in 2019, for the third time in a row, the Bankers, who are out to atone for finishing last season without any silverware to their name, will be looking to sound out a warning to opponents in the tournament making its comeback in the country after a two-year break enforced by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Before getting started, retaining the Floodies tournament will certainly be on top of the agenda as the tourney acts as the curtain raiser for the 2022/2023 Kenya Cup season slated to kick off on 26 November.

“We have been training for the last three months and we have really learnt a lot from that. We have improved on a lot of areas in our game so it will be a totally new style of play for us.

Because we never won anything last season, we are just preparing ourselves to win this season which is our motivation but we just take one game at a time,” retired Shujaa captain Andrew Amonde who is in KCB’s starting squad told Mozzart Sport.

The defending champions have named four new faces in the team with former Mean Machine and Strathmore Leos utility back Festus Shiasi handed a starting berth as the outside centre.

On the other hand, Quins have handed former Homeboyz trio Jan Remka (13), Arnold Onzere (10) and Rachel Wangila (14) starts against KCB. The three players find themselves at Quins after Homeboyz RFC closed shop abruptly.

Quins will face a herculean task of trying to stop the Bankers as Paul Murunga continues mould his side after taking over during the 7s season. The match will kick off at 1700EAT.

The second half between Nondies and Impala which was not completed over the weekend will also be played after the first clash. The game was stopped with Nondies leading 15-0.

Menengai Oilers and Blak Blad have already booked their place in the semifinals of the tournament after 26-6 and 20-19 victories over Nakuru RFC and Strathmore Leos respectively.

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