Kisii High school upbeat ahead of Prescott Cup nationals

Kisii High School head coach Lee Astone is aiming at the stars after the side defended their Nyanza Region prescott title after seeing off rivals Yala High School 7-5 in the finals played at the Lions High School in Kisumu over the weekend.

Matrix Matangi crossed the white wash for Kisii with Enosh Ondieki completing the extras. Matangi was also the Nyanza Region Most Valuable player in the Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) rugby 15s Term 1 games. Bruno William scored Yala's sole unconverted try. Yala proceeded to the finals after their opponents Homabay High School failed to show up to the venue therefore being given a walkover. Im the second semi Kisii school proved to be too strong for there opponents Nyabondo High School defeating them 22-0 and proceeding to the finals.

The match was a repeat of the Nyanza Region 15s semis where Kisii narrowly beat Yala 9-6. 

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In an exclusive with Mozzart Sport, Astone praised his charges' efforts, noting that their hard work finally paid off. He further noted that they were aiming at the National Presscott title.

“My team has really worked hard and it has remained compact. After failing to reach the 7s nationals we embarked on a serious training with the boys and that has truly reflected on today’s games. Going into the nationals we are aiming for that trophy as last year’s nationals we failed to win after losing to Vihiga in the finals,” he said.

Yala High School coach Kenneth Mukok blamed the narrow loss on poor training for the longer version of the game. Yala have been training for the 7s version. They registered an impressive performance in the Federation of East Africa Secondary Schools Sports Association (FEASSSA) rugby 7s games held in Huye, Rwanda in August to finish fifth.

“We used this year’s Prescott to see how far our team has come. We haven’t trained for 15s for long as last term all our focus was in the 7s. The team is good and for sure next year we will give our honest competition and try to secure a slot in 15s nationals.” Mukok offered.

Kisii school will be joining teams from other regions in the nationals slated later on this month at the RFUEA to compete for the national title which is held by Vihiga High School.

Prescott Cup is an inter-school competition inaugurated in 1967, with the sole objective being to develop rugby in Kenya at the age-grade level. The inaugural participants of the tournament were Rift Valley Academy, Nairobi School, and Lenana School.