Kenya Cup: KCB, Kabras book final spots as Pirates gain promotion

Kabras and KCB RFC successfully booked a slot in the 2023/24 Kenya Cup final after outshining their opponents in the semifinals played on Saturday 23 March in Nairobi and Kakamega.

The Sugarmen's dominance continued as they edged Nondies 37-9 in the closely contested match played at Kakamega Showground.

The result saw them register their ninth semifinal win, in turn, a ninth straight final appearance. They will be going for a fourth Kenya Cup title.

The Carlos Kyatwa-coached side have now beaten Nondies in 11 consecutive matches since their 18-16 loss in 2014.

Kabras who were the hosts started on a high, piling pressure on the White shirts and edging them at their half. They would then miss a scoring opportunity after captain George Nyambua's handling errors.

That gave Nondies an opportunity to finally be out of the danger zone.

A series of passes continued, with the Sugarmen seemingly having the upper hand in the match. They managed their opening three points thanks to Ntabeni Dukisa's kicking maestro.

Following that, it was Griffin Chao dancing through Nondies' defence to earn the Sugarmen their first try of the match. Dukisa was sure with the conversion to extend Kabras' win.

Nondies would then respond with a penalty kick from Nyaenya Moseti to reduce the gap to 10-3.

Kabras, determined not to shame the hundreds of fans at their home ground continued with their fine form, this time Chao setting up Dukisa for a breathtaking try. Dukisa missed the conversion minutes to halftime. HT scores 15-6.

The Sugarmen came in breathing fire in the second half, scoring more tries that weakened their opponents. Kenya 7s international Brian Tanga and Nyambura added their names to the try-scoring parties to extend the lead to 25-6.

Infringements from Kabras saw Nondies opt for penalty kicks to add points and Nyaenya successfully split the posts once again, narrowing the scoreline to 25-9.

Chao would then manage his brace after scoring another well-worked-out try for the hosts. This time, Barry Robinson missed the conversion to leave the score at 30-9.

In the final moments of the game, Kabras sealed their victory as Bryceson Adaka grounded a loose ball in the trybox, with Dukisa easily converting the try.

With this, Kabras secured a home final with a final score of 37-9 and will play KCB.

Pablo transitions to full-time coaching after 17 years with Mwamba RFC

Impala, Pirates through to Kenya Cup

Quinto Ongo was Impala’s toast in Kakamega, his right boot kicking over four penalties to steer the club back to the Kenya Cup courtesy of a one-point win over hosts Masinde Muliro in a tightly contested KRU Championship semifinal fixture at the Kakamega Showground in Kakamega on Saturday 23 March 2024.

Ongo drilled Impala ahead with a penalty before Washington Ombima kicked over a drop goal and penalty to see the hosts take a 6-3 lead before Ongo struck again with a penalty to see the sides even, 6-6 at the interval.

Another Ongo penalty after the restart took Impala 9-6 up before the hosts retook the lead through Kelvin Bukhala’s unconverted try for an 11-9 lead.

Ongo would step up with a crunch kick, drilling it between the posts to make it 12-11 to secure the win, a place in next weekend’s final but more importantly, a berth for Impala in the Kenya Cup after two seasons in the second tier following their relegation at the close of the 2021/22 season.

South Coast Pirates will play in the Kenya Cup for the first time after securing their berth via a 30-15 win over Daystar Falcons.

The result sees them become the first team from the Coast region to feature in the top tier since Mombasa who were relegated at the close of the 2017/18 season.