Kenya wipe floor with Uganda

PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO Kenya’s inside centre Philadelphia Olando (right) shows Ugandan’s Beatrice Atim a clean pair of heels during their Elgon Cup return fixture at RFUEA ground on July 19, 2014. Kenya won 39-10 and 72-25 on aggregate.

What you need to know:

  • It’s a walk in the park for hosts as visitors chase shadows throughout the afternoon
  • Kenya A, the senior men’s team, overturned their 14-21 loss from Kampala last weekend to beat Uganda Cranes 34-0 and clinch the Elgon Cup 48-21 on aggregate.

Kenya took all three categories of the Elgon Cup after the U-19, women’s and men’s teams won their games against their Ugandan counterparts at the RFUEA ground on Saturday.

Kenya A, the senior men’s team, overturned their 14-21 loss from Kampala last weekend to beat Uganda Cranes 34-0 and clinch the Elgon Cup 48-21 on aggregate.

Despite enjoying little possession, Kenya proved more efficient, taking a 12-0 lead to the break. Captain Edwin Makori opened the scores with a try, capitalizing on a rebound off the post from Isaac Adimo’s penalty.

A sense of déjà vu was in the air after Ugandan scrumhalf Ivan Makmoti’s penalty rebounded off Kenya’s post and got the defence asleep. Flanker Philip Owuor however turned over the ball to save Kenya the blushes.

The two sides shared the spoils on set pieces, Uganda dominating the scrum downs and Kenya having the better day on the lineouts.

Kenya survived three attacks that saw Uganda lose the ball inches from the try line. Just before the break Nato Simiyu crossed the line at the corner to land Kenya’s second try.

Adimo added a conversion to give the home side a 12-0 half time lead. Several handling errors continued to haunt Kenya, with Malcolm Onsando, Dalmas Chituyi and Eden Agero guilty knock ons.

Godfrey Mbeya, Victor Brown and Eden Agero added a try each with Adimo slotting one conversion for a 34-0 win. Head coach Dominique Habimana said the team had worked on continuity over the week, which enabled them to keep them longer.

“There were still a few errors but we managed to string up to six phases which proved to be too much for the Ugandans. We want to be able to string up to 12 phases without any errors,” said Habimana.

Uganda captain Brian Odongo said they expected Kenya to play a physical game and were caught off guard when Kenya started swinging the ball from end to end.

He, however, denied that the internal wrangles within the Ugandan Rugby Union were not to blame for their dip in performance.

SECOND STRING SIDE

“It may have been a second string side but at the end of the day, anyone you hand the jersey will fight for their country. We shall bounce back,” he said. Women’s captain Doreen Remour led from the front as she grounded two tries in the first half as Kenya taking a 17-5 lead to the break.

Remour opened the scores after collecting a short pass from fullback Irene Atieno. Atieno would miss the ensuing conversion to leave the scores at 5-0 in Kenya’s Kenya.

The Lady Cranes tied the game through Fortunate Irankunda’s unconverted try. Celestine Masinde broke through Uganda’s defence to score Kenya’s second try.

Atieno missed the conversion to leave the scores at 10-5. Remour would score her second try at the stroke of half time after combining well with Atieno.

This time the latter was on target with the conversion to give Kenya a 17-5 halftime lead.

Upon resumption, Atieno, Janet Akello and Camilyne Oyuayo added a try each. Atieno converted all the three tries.