MOMBASA, Kenya, Sep 3- Reigning National Sevens Circuit champions Homeboyz RFC will battle out with their 2015 predecessors Nakuru RFC for the Driftwood Sevens title on Sunday evening after both overcame tough opposition to sail to the Main Cup final.
Both sides had to endure nervous final minutes with Homeboyz winning 10-5 against Menengai Oilers courtesy of a Leonard Mugaisi brace of tries while Nakuru were 7-0 winners over surprise package Mean Machine.
Nakuru who narrowly lost 14-12 to Homeboyz during the group matches on Saturday will be heading into the final with revenge on their minds.
“We expect a tough and physical match because Homeboyz are a good side. In the final however, they should not expect us to lower our guard like we did yesterday. This time, we are going for nothing but a win,” Nakuru skipper Geoffrey Ominde told Capital Sport.
He added; “We started the tournament slow but today we have picked up. We are a young squad half of which are rookies but we have some superb teamwork which has put us where we are now.”
Homeboyz head coach Paul Murunga expects a tough match as well but he reckons his side has the slight edge to tip over Nakuru and win the first tournament of the season.
“We saw what they are capable of doing yesterday. Ours is to take in the match with seriousness and hopefully we can win. Last year we didn’t make it but this time, we are going for it,” Murunga opined.
Oilers, coached by former Nakuru and Kenya Sevens star Gibson Weru started off superbly against Homeboyz in the first semi final, Erick Ombassa touching down on the right after some patient build up.
Homeboyz were stunned but took the setback well, building up slowly as they tried to open up the Oilers backline. They were aided by a numerical advantage when Sammy Muregi was sent to the sinbin.
They used that opportunity to find an extra man on the right and Mugaisi was at hand to cross over. Michael Wanjala’s attempt at the conversion was wide and the two sides went to the breather level 5-5.
In the second half Homeboyz looked to seal the deal early enough and Mugaisi once again found some space on the right before dotting down and his attempt at the extras going short.
It ended up being a nervous affair as Oilers pushed for a converted try to sneak away with the win.
After the buzzer, with the youngsters pushing, Homeboyz just but managed to turn over possession after a knock on from Oilers and skipper Jeff Oluoch booted to touch to end the game.
The second semi was equally competitive with Machine who have coasted from underdogs to tournament favorites in quick time pushing Nakuru all the way. Machine dominated play but they could not find the right pass in the Nakuru 22 for a try.
Wanyore just managed to sneak away and Crispine Onyango dotted down on the left after some good work from Kevin Kioko who quickly turned over play and with some fancy stopovers got away from his markers to release Onyango.
Meanwhile, Driftwood champions Kenya Harlequins will vie for the 7th and 8th position after they failed to make it past the quarters losing 7-0 to Machine.
Mwamba RFC who had a difficult opening day however were in some good class on Sunday, progressing to the Challenge Trophy final where they will meet KCB. Mwamba beat Mombasa 36-5 in the quarters before going on to whitewash Strathmore 24-0 in the semis.
Day two results
Main Cup Quarters: Homeboyz 19 Nondies 7, Nakuru 12 Kabras 7, Kenya Harlequins 0 Mean Machine 7, Menengai Oilers 10 Impala 0.
Semis: Homeboyz 10-5 Oilers, Nakuru 7-5 Machine
Challenge Trophy Quarters: Blak Blad 26 KCA-U 7, KCB 22 Kisii RFC 5, Strathmore University 24 Western Bulls 12, Mwamba 36 Mombasa 5.
Semis: KCB 12-7 BlakBlad, Mwamba 24-0 Strathmore
