The Kenya Cup finalists will be decided on an unmissable Super Saturday as defending champions Kabras Sugar, KCB, Menengai Oilers and Kenya Harlequin battle it out for a place in the title decider on Saturday 11 March 2023.
12 scintillating weeks after the 2022/23 season began, the finish line is in sight in the race to be crowned kings of Kenyan club rugby.
Kabras Sugar and KCB are both privileged to be playing their semi-finals at home after finishing one and two in the table respectively.
Kenya Harlequin will travel to Kakamega to face Kabras Sugar while Menengai Oilers will head to Ruaraka to meet KCB.
Kabras Sugar v Kenya Harlequin | 3pm | Kakamega Showground
Quins, who return to the semifinal playoffs for the first time since 2019, are bidding for a first title since 2012. They began their campaign with three straight losses but their turnaround under first term coach Paul Murunga has been nothing short of extraordinary.
The RFUEA based side have gone from also rans to semifinalists and will be out to give the defending champions a run for their money before a highly passionate and vocal crowd in Kakamega. It will be recalled that their last win over Kabras was during a regular season fixture way back in 2017, a 19-13 result on the day.
Kabras, on the other hand, finished the regular season with a 100% record, beating all opposition to finish top of the log as they aim for an eighth successive cup final appearance and third league title. They have been head and shoulders above their opponents throughout the campaign but will need to guard against complacency when they take on Quins.
This is the second time the two sides meet in the Kenya Cup semis, their previous meeting ending in a 19-15 win for Kabras as they marched on to the 2016 title. The sugarmen also lead the head to head record with 9 wins and 2 losses in their previous 11 Kenya Cup meetings.
Previous Meetings
Kabras Sugar 27-10 Kenya Harlequin ( 2014, Kakamega)
Kenya Harlequin 19-17 Kabras Sugar ( 2015, RFUEA)
Kabras Sugar 41-17 Kenya Harlequin (2016, Kakamega)
Kabras Sugar 19-15 Kenya Harlequin (2016, Kakamega, Kenya Cup semis)
Kabras Sugar 13-19 Kenya Harlequin (2017, Kakamega)
Kabras Sugar 22-13 Kenya Harlequin (2018, Kakamega)
Kenya Harlequin 3-21 Kabras Sugar (2019, RFUEA)
Kabras Sugar 34-3 Kenya Harlequin (2020, Kakamega)
Kenya Harlequin 5-43 Kabras Sugar (2021, RFUEA)
Kabras Sugar 31-6 Kenya Harlequin (2022, Kakamega)
Kabras Sugar 27-12 Kenya Harlequin (2022,Kakamega)
KCB v Menengai Oilers | 3pm | KCB Sports Club
KCB were pacesetters for the better part of the regular season before being knocked off their perch in the match day 10 home defeat to Kabras Sugar. They still finished second, earning a home semifinal slot against the Menengai Oilers, a team that eliminated them at the same stage last season courtesy of Geoffrey Ominde’s distinguished right boot that stroked home eight penalties en route to a 24-17 upset at Ruaraka. This was their first ever league victory over the bankers who currently lead the head to head record with 7 wins and that solitary loss.
Saturday’s fixture will be the second between the two sides in the span of three weeks, KCB blitzing past the Oilers 62-15 when they met in match day 9 action in Nakuru.
That is surely water under the bridge with both sides coming into this tie aware of what is stake, a place in the championship decider on 11 March.
The bankers will need to be at their disciplined best to avoid a repeat of last year’s debacle and complete their revenge over the side that ended their reign as Kenya Cup champions.
Oilers, playing their third successive Kenya Cup semifinal against KCB, came agonizingly close to lifting last season’s title when they rattled Kabras before falling to a 35-28 defeat in a tantalizing final in Kakamega.
Their place in the playoffs was never in doubt as they hovered around the top three all season. They will need to summon that form that got them past KCB and into their first ever cup final.
Previous Meetings
KCB 27-5 Menengai Oilers (2018, Nairobi)
Menengai Oilers 13-43 KCB (2019, Nakuru)
KCB 43-13 Menengai Oilers (2020, Nairobi)
Menengai Oilers 19-22 KCB (2021, Nakuru)
KCB 35-17 Menengai Oilers (2021, Nairobi, Kenya Cup semis)
KCB 23-18 Menengai Oilers (2022, Nairobi)
KCB 17-24 Menengai Oilers (2022, Nairobi, Kenya Cup semis)
Menengai Oilers 15-62 KCB (2022,Nakuru)