KSSSA: Battle of titans as rugby 15s enters semifinal stage

The Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) rugby 15s term one games will enter the semifinal stage today - 12 Friday 2024.

All matches will be played at the Machakos Boys grounds as chaff will be separated from wheat.

KSSSA rugby 15s defending champions Butula will lock horns with Kitondo of Eastern Region as Lenana face All Saints.

The matches will kick off at 9.00 am.

KSSSA: Butula, Kitondo, All Saints, Lenana through to rugby 15s semifinals

SF1 - Butula vs Kitondo

Fans will be treated to this entertaining first semifinal that has all the ingredients of a mouth-watering fixture.

Butula are coming from two wins and one draw that saw them top Pool A with 11 points.

They kicked off their campaign by sharing a barren draw with Kisii High before bouncing back to winning ways with a resounding 67-3 victory over St Patrick’s Iten of Rift Valley.

They then fought hard to defeat All Saints 12-9 in the closely contested match to end their pool matches in style.

According to the team’s coach Shimenga Livondo, they are hoping to defend their title.

Butula made history last year as the first team from Bungoma County to win the rugby 15s title. He assured the people of the Western County that they would fight tooth and nail to bring this one home too.

“We will go back and strategize on how to win the semifinal match. There are areas we anticipate to improve like the handling errors which slowed down our move. The weather also posed a challenge because the pitch was bad,” Shimenga told Mozzart Sport.

Their opponents Kitondo, too, will be hoping to register impressive results.

This is their second time playing rugby 15s and they will be keen to glow.

Last year, they defied the odds to reach the regional stage where they were eliminated.

This year, they started their national campaign on the right footing, seeing off Lenana School 17-16 in the opening pool match before going down 12-8 to Mang’u. They ended their pool matches with a 36-6 victory over Marafa.

Team coach Dennis Chikamai noted that they were all about progress, not perfection.

“This far the boys have performed well. It shows that we are on the right track. The games were tough but we played according to our structure. Our target was to reach the nationals. We always aim to go a step further," Chikamai said.

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SF2 – Lenana vs All Saints Embu

The second semifinal will be even more heated as Lenana tackle All Saints Embu.

To proceed to this stage, All Saints Embu under Benson Kinyua's tutelage were on a winning streak before meeting conditioned Butula.

They started off their pool matches with a 27-8 win over St Patrick's Iten before narrowly defeating Kisii 6-3 in the second match.

They then suffered a 12-9 loss at the hands of Butula.

They will be looking to go past Lenana to stage a repeat of the 2023 KSSSA rugby 15s where they qualified for the final stage but went down 38-0 to Butula.

Lenana on the other hand will be hoping to glow.

They started their title hunt with a 17-16 loss in the hands of Kitondo before handing Marafa High School a 37-3 defeat.

KSSSA Rugby 15s semifinal pairings

Butula vs Kitondo

Lenana vs All Saints Embu