It’s first against second as current leaders Kabras Sugar host second placed Resolution Impala Saracens in Kenya Cup match day three action at the ASK Showground in Kakamega on Saturday 9 November 2019.
Kabras have again made a blazing start to the new campaign, averaging 66 points in their two previous fixtures. They started with an 89-0 whitewash of newly promoted Kisumu on match day one before building on a 7-6 halftime lead to score 36 points en route to a 43-9 win away to hosts Stanbic Mwamba.
Impala too, are thriving under old boy Mitch Ocholla, having begun their season with two bonus point wins – a 26-14 victory away to Nondescripts before putting Blak Blad to the sword last weekend, winning 57-9 at the Impala Club.
Defending champions KCB, like Kabras and Impala above them, have gathered winning bonus points from their two matches to date. They are third on the table due to an inferior points difference and will be out to bubble into life when they play winless Top Fry Nakuru are currently ninth on the log.
KCB started their season with a 48-11 win over Western Bulls at home before beating Kenya Harlequin 32-20 last weekend at the RFUEA. The bankers were guilty of letting their foot off the gas pedal in the second half of their fixture last weekend, allowing Quins to come back strongly and threaten a sensational comeback.
They will certainly be out to put out a complete performance against a Nakuru side that is smarting from opening losses to Menengai Oilers (31-5) and Menengai Cream Homeboyz (15-10). Nakuru will be out to draw inspiration from claiming KCB’s scalp in Ruaraka, something that can play a great role in kick-starting their season.
Menengai Cream Homeboyz are quietly going about their business and have looked solid in their two outings to date, a 26-13 match day one win at home to Quins and last weekend’s 15-10 away to Top Fry Nakuru. The fifth placed deejays host fourth placed Menengai Oilers at the Jamhuri Park, a fixture that is a must watch for rugby lovers in Nairobi.
The Oilers had a dream Kenya Cup debut last season, finishing in eighth place, well clear of the relegation zone. They have started the new campaign on a high, beating cross-town rivals Top Fry Nakuru 31-5 on match day one and following that up with a hard fought 27-21 win away to Western Bulls last weekend in Kakamega. They are level on points with the leading trio of Kabras, Impala and KCB but confined to fourth position due to an inferior points difference. They will certainly back themselves up to pull off a positive result in Nairobi as they seek to rise further up the table.
Seventh placed Stanbic Mwamba, Kenya Cup semifinalists last season will be out to return to winning ways as quickly as possible.
Trailing 7-6 at the break last weekend against Kabras, a second half capitulation saw them ship in 36 points as they ended up on the wrong end of the 43-9 score line, thus undoing the gains from the previous week’s 34-27 win away to Blak Blad.
They are up against a Kisumu side who are on a high after registering the first upset of the season when they edged Nondescripts 19-17 at the Mamboleo Showground in Kisumu last weekend. This match is tentatively slated for the Impala Club.
Eighth placed Nondescripts will be out to exorcise the ghosts of last weekend’s misadventure in Kisumu when they make the trip to Kenyatta University to place eleventh placed Blak Blad. Both sides are winless in their two outings to date and something will have to give when they face off on Saturday.
Nondies began their campaign with a 26-14 loss at home to Impala before last weekend’s shock 19-17 defeat to the Kenya Cup returnees. It’s still early days yet, and the rangers will be out to turn their season around with victory at Kenyatta University.
Blak Blad on the other hand started with a 34-27 loss at home to Stanbic Mwamba before crumbling under the weight of a 57-9 bombardment from Impala. They are difficult customers at home and will certainly bank on that when they take on the multiple Kenya Cup champions.
Kenya Harlequin find themselves in unfamiliar territory two games into the new campaign, rooted to the bottom of the log. They were unable to collect losing bonus points in their 26-13 loss to Homeboyz on match day one and last weekend’s 32-20 defeat to KCB. They will however draw a lot of positives from last weekend’s outing against the champions, whom they restricted to just three points in the second half and will look to haul themselves off the league’s basement when they take on their next opponent in match day three action.
That opponent is tenth placed Western Bulls who are back in the Kenya Cup after two seasons out. Bulls started with a 48-11 loss away to KCB before losing narrowly at home to the Oilers, finding themselves on the wrong end of the 27-21 score line last weekend in Kakamega.
