Nondies floor Strathmore Leos to clinch inaugural Tisap 7s

Nondies RFC saw off Strathmore Leos 12-7 to emerge winners of the inaugural Tisap 7s tournament on Sunday.

The Ngong Road-based club didn’t taste defeat on the Eldoret terrain.

They kicked off their pool campaign with a 21-5 victory over Nakuru RFC before defeating Mwamba RFC 26-19 in the second match.

Nondies ended their pool campaign on a high after a 26-5 victory over the University of Eldoret Trojans.

At the quarterfinal stage, Nondies defeated Kisumu RFC 10-7 to qualify for the semis, where they beat National 7s Circuit defending champions, Menengai Oilers, 10-7.

A sudden-death try by Charles Odhiambo handed Nondescripts their maiden national Circuit win. The last time the team played at the 7s finals was in 2000, when they battled it out with Kisumu RFC.

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Nondies scored first in the third minute through Moses Begi with Daniel Okito making a successful conversion.

In the 6th minute, Andrew Matoka touched down, with Stephen Ousmba adding the extras to level the score before the break.

On resumption, the teams played at all levels, forcing the game into sudden death.

Speaking after the emphatic win, Nondies RFC head coach Benedict Nyambu said that quenching the over-23-year-old thirst for a 7s title was an impressive show by his charges.

“This win has come from far. I can say hard work pays, and that has been proven today in Eldoret. Our strategy was that when the ball bounced, we regrouped, and that is why we won in sudden death. This win is a real boost towards the Kabeberi 7s in Nairobi in two weeks' time,’ said Nyambu.

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Nondies RFC captain Fidel ‘Baboon' Oloo said that the boys’ hard work behind the scenes finally paid off. He was glad that his team made history as the winners of the inaugural Tisap 7s.

“We were well prepared for the next tournament; we are taking no chances; it is history we have made since we last played finals in 2000,” he added.

Mwamba RFC came in third after an impressive performance that saw them defeat the Oilers 14-5 in the third-place playoff.

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Fifth-place was occupied by KCB, who defeated Kabras RFC 21-14. Both teams failed to go past the quarterfinal stage.

KCB were eliminated by Menengai Oilers, while Kabras RFC were defeated by Mwamba RFC in the quarterfinals.

Paul Murunga’s charges, the Kenya Harlequins, picked seventh place, while Nakuru RFC came in eighth.

In Division II, United States International University (USIU) emerged winners after seeing off hosts Moi University Arsonists 21-19 in the closely contested final. Meru RFC finished third.

Individual awards

Division II

Paul Kitui :Most Valuable Player (USIU)

David Sani :Most Promising Player (Mount Kenya University)

Division I

Michael Wamalwa: Most Promising Player (KCB Rugby)

Brian Mutugi: Top Try Scorer (Mwamba RFC)

Charles Omondi: Most Valuable Player (Nondies RFC)

Amon Wamalwa: Top Points Scorer (Quins)

Final main cup

Nondescripts 12-07 Strathmore Leos

Play-off

Menengai Oilers 07-12 Mwamba

Division one final

USIU 21-19 Moi University

Semis

1. Strathmore Loes 8-5 mwamba

2. Menengai Oilers 7–10 Nondescripts

Quarters

1.KCB 5-10 Menengai Oilers

2. Nondescripts, 10-07 Kisumu

3. Strathmore Leos 26-0 Blak Blad

4. Kabras Sugar 5-19 mwamba