Fifth-time lucky St Peter’s Mumias win maiden 7s title

St Peter’s Mumias on Saturday won their maiden sevens rugby title after edging out Kangaru Boys 19-7 in the main cup final during the secondary schools national Term Two ‘A’ at Moi Nyeri Complex Primary School.

St Peter’s won their first national title in sevens rugby after five unsuccessful attempts at the national level. They lost to rivals Kakamega High School in the 2012 and 2013 while last year they were eliminated at the quarter final stage by Maseno School.

Enroute to the final, St Peters ran out 49-0 winners over Muhuri Muchiri in the semi-finals while Kangaru, who bundled out champions Maseno School in the quarter-finals, beat Homa Bay School 7-5 in their last four clash.

Zedden Marrow scored two tries and Collins Onyango successfully converted twice while Byron Tinega added a late try for the Nzoia region champions to gift them victory. Kangaru’s Kevin Mburu and Hannington Mbaka scored a try and conversion for the Highland region champions.

FAST-PACED TEAM

Marrow’s pace was too much for Kangaru as he touched down between the posts after just five minutes in his team’s first attack of the match and Onyango stepped up to successfully convert to give his team a 7-0 lead at the breather.

St Peter’s extended their lead after the break with Marrow again a proving a menace for the Kangaru, breaking free to sprint down the left wing for his second try of the match, with Onyango dully converting once more.

Tinega of St Peter’s put the result beyond doubt as Kangaru scored a late try through Kevin Mburu while Hannington Mbaka converted but it proved too late as St Peters held out for the historic win. “Our aim was to win the national crown without conceding a try. We beat big teams on our way to the final and we have met the coach’s target. We now want to win the East African title so as to complete a remarkable seasons,” St Peter’s coach Gabriel Adero said.

Kangaru coach Benson Mwenda was pleased with his team’s performance despite the defeat, adding that his team will come back stronger for the East African games set for Rwanda in August.

“We are going back to prepare for the regional games where we hope to come back stronger and hopefully win the event. We lost to our good team but we can be proud of our performance today,” Mwenda said.

In the play-offs, Muhuri Muchiri reigned supreme after beating Homa Bay 5-0 while Bungoma School beat Upper Hill 14-5 to lift the Plate. In the Bowl final, Simotwo edged out Alliance School 14-7 as Meru School beat Thika 22-14 to win the shield.