Mutebi leads Karen Crusaders to Touch Rugby victory
Guns For Hire's Roy Omollo (right) skips past Mercenaries' Ben Bottelberge during the Touch Rugby seven-aside tournament on September 22, 2018 at Nairobi Railways Club. Karen Crusaders edged out Unsullied 3-2 to win the second leg of Touch Rugby Central League. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |
What you need to know:
Mutebi and Silas Kwobi had scored before Glen Bullock’s try level 2-2 in regulation time, forcing the sudden death play
As per the touch rugby rules, a try is counted for two if a team that has female players or players aged over 45 years scores.
Team with children below 12 also get a bonus try for each try scored
The league that started two weeks ago and will end in March next year is geared towards bringing people from all walks of life to play the game
Nigel Mutebi scored a sudden death try as Karen Crusaders edged out Unsullied 3-2 to win the second leg of Touch Rugby Central League at Railway Club, Nairobi on Saturday.
Mutebi and Silas Kwobi had scored before Glen Bullock’s try drew the game level at 2-2 in regulation time, forcing the sudden death play.
As per the touch rugby rules, a try is counted for two if a team that has female players or players aged over 45 years scores. Team with children below 12 also get a bonus try for each try scored.
For this case, Bullock’s try counted for two to level the proceedings before Mutebi struck in sudden death to hand Crusaders victory.
Unsullied eased through to the final after bundling out Saints 4-3 while Crusaders stopped Mohspice 1-0. Saints piped Mohspice 2-1 in the play-off to settle for third.
In the quarters, Crusaders eased past Mog Pirates 4-3, Unsullied beat Spartans 8-2 while saints stopped Miro 4-0. Mohspice edged out Safaricom 2-0.
Safaricom went on to lift Plate, beating Mog Pirates 1-0 while Rugby Players Fellowship (RPF), who won the first leg of the league, settled for Bowel title after a 3-0 victory over Sullied.
The Touch Rugby Central League organiser Mwenga Ndoo said that the league has 10 legs where Nairobi will host seven of them with Kajiado, Naivasha and Machakos also being roped in.
The league that started two weeks ago and will end in March next year is geared towards bringing people from all walks of life to play the game.
“Many people want to play rugby but can’t engage in the physical and tackling mainstream game,” said Ndoo. “That is why we came up with this idea.”
Ndoo said they have started with 18 teams and hope to grow in numbers as the league progresses adding that countries like South Africa, England, Australia and New Zealand have full-fledged touch rugby leagues.
