Rugby in Kenya

• Weekend Games

  Posted: July 31, 2009, 3:29 pm by DataMiner

  Kenya Cup Rugby action continues this weekend. A good preview here. The second round has begun and perhaps the not so interesting games are on. However, don't imagine there will be no upsets. Most teams have found their footing and their rhythm. All players, bar injured, are available. And it is the stretch where any slip up is costly.Quins host Nondies at the KRFUEA grounds. Impala play

• Kenya Cup : Mean Machine host wounded KCB

  Posted: July 31, 2009, 10:08 am by Back2Besics

  Last week was one of the rare weekends that I actually missed a Machine game. Being taken to Coasto by my mama was a special treat that even a machine die-hard like me could not say no. The Thursday Lifestyle ritual can make a guy weak at times. Now at some stage when the season (hopefully) will be over I will have to repay her with a similar or better treat. (I'd better start saving by asking

• Kenya Rugby : History of the Enterprise Cup 1930 to 2005 - 1

  Posted: July 30, 2009, 3:14 am by The Real KRFU

  A few years ago some rugby stalwarts went back into time to re-capture the history and essence of the prestigious ENTERPRISE CUP. A book sold mostly in the UK was prepared to mark the 75 years annivervisary in 2005. For those who never read it, enjoy a fantastic piece of East African Rugby history over the next few weeks.---------------------------------------------------------------------------

• Weekly Ramble

  Posted: July 29, 2009, 2:32 pm by DataMiner

  Sorry for the missing Ramble last week. Sometimes my muse deserts me and I feel like a broken record most of the time. Many feelings I aired on this blog last year are still valid and it pains me that we are all trying to hide under the success of the Sevens team. That success is relative and not permanent has not entered our feeble collective psyche and we think we can ride on it forever.

• Kenya Cup - Week 7

  Posted: July 27, 2009, 3:00 pm by DataMiner

  At the halfway point, things are just hotting up. A loss by KCB to Nakuru has seen them lose their perch at the top of the league standings for the first time this year. The defending champions failed to defend effectively against Impala and conceded all points again. Nondies also failed to sparkle and allowed Strathmore to win their first game of the season. Mwamba continued with their

• Kenya Cup Results

  Posted: July 25, 2009, 1:17 am by DataMiner

  Impala 25 Quins 16 KCB 13 Nakuru 30 Mwamba 30 Machine 22 Nondies 24 Strathmore 28

• Kenya Cup : Mean Machine seeking second win

  Posted: July 24, 2009, 10:05 pm by Back2Besics

  Still on a high from last weeks close but bobobobo win over Stratmore Leos the Machine this weekend seek a second win when they play Mwamba. Games against 'Kulabu' as they call themselves (???) are of historical importance. Mwamba are the child of Mean Machine and the rugby umblical cord has never been broken.The game at Uhuru Park/Railway Club is destined to be close as Mwamba will be without

• Weekend Games

  Posted: July 24, 2009, 2:58 pm by DataMiner

  The Kenya Cup reaches the half way stage this weekend, and for the top five sides, it is time to take stock of where they lie and their chances of wining the league. A good write up here. The top of the table clash between KCB and Nakuru will be the juiciest. The Impala vs. Quins match also has a lot of history and a battle of supremacy for the perennial rivals. That these two teams share a

• Kenya Cup - Week 6

  Posted: July 20, 2009, 2:57 pm by DataMiner

  Got some right and some wrong. And that 's the way it goes. Mwamba managed a bonus point victory over Nondies and KCB over Quins as well. The battle of the universities went to Machine and now the only team without a victory remains Strathmore. Nakuru also bounced back and beat Impala.Before I see the confirmations on scores and bonus points, it looks like KCB remain on top of the table,

• Kenya Cup Results 180709

  Posted: July 19, 2009, 2:43 pm by DataMiner

  Mwamba 28 Nondies 17 KCB 27 Quins 17 Machine 30 Strathmore 28 Nakuru 28 Impala 17.

• Kenya Cup Result - Mwamba 28 Nondies 17

  Posted: July 18, 2009, 4:25 pm by DataMiner

  Mwamba came out tops in this middle of the table clash and crawled slowly up the ladder. Deja vu perhaps.. but a certain team pulled this same stunt last year. Keep a close watch on this team.

• Kenya Cup Result

  Posted: July 18, 2009, 2:54 am by ruggerbug

  Mwamba 28 Nondies 17.

• Weekend Games

  Posted: July 17, 2009, 1:13 pm by DataMiner

  Match day 6 of the Kenya Cup campaign and it is fast shaping up. You can find a good preview here. The battle for the cup is going to be long and vicious. The season has been long and for sure fatigue will set in at some point. The teams with good depth will have it easier as they will have players who have not really exerted themselves much this year, yet eager to prove that they are better

• Kenya Cup: Battle for Supremacy as Mean Machine take on Strathmore Leos

  Posted: July 17, 2009, 3:00 am by Back2Besics

  No more theories as my mama and I have late night supper at NakumattLifestyle which is more becoming a Thursday night ritual. Today waseven more spiced as we watched a movie 'State of Play' which was mytreat as she recovered from MJ's death. How this is our problem I haveno clue. The guy in my opinion was one wierdo who could sing a severalgood songs.Mean Machine our rugby pride of campo have an

• Kenya Rugby: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

  Posted: July 15, 2009, 12:49 pm by The Real KRFU

  The GoodRugby is alive and kicking in Kenya. There is no doubt that this isthe sport of the moment. A huge chunk of the credit goes to Kenya 7'steam. Collins Injera, Humphrey Kayange and the rest of the team areglobal superstars. They have captured the imagination of the Kenyanpublic as well as the World at large. Even the goverment has takennotice with President Kibaki, PM Raila and Minister

• Kenya Cup - Week 5

  Posted: July 13, 2009, 5:01 pm by DataMiner

  The Kenya Cup Rugby League is just getting interesting. I was wrong on the main match of the day, expecting KCB to overcome Impala with ease and I'll eat my words. I also expected the Quins/Nakuru match to be a battle but it was not to be. The other two matches were closer and this weekend everyone managed at least a point. Nondies won their first match and Strathmore keep getting better and

• Kenya Cup and Kenya 15's Results

  Posted: July 12, 2009, 6:33 pm by Back2Besics

  Kenya CupImpala 15 Kcb 9Mwamba 24 Strathmore Leos 18Quins 29 Nakuru 6Nondies 19 Mean Machine 15CAR Trophy Northern FinalMorocco 29 Kenya 11

• Weekly Ramble

  Posted: July 11, 2009, 4:06 pm by DataMiner

  Who is looking out for us?It seems that all public office is political. Whether actual political or government office, or even sporting bodies. All over institutions worldwide are run by those who play politics well, and not really by those who mean well for everyone else. Rugby is no different and let no one kid you that someone is looking out for your interest. It is simply a matter of

• Kenya Team to Face Morocco

  Posted: July 11, 2009, 2:57 pm by DataMiner

  Coach Michael "Tank" Otieno has named a largely unchanged side to face Morocco this afternoon in the final of the Northern Zone CAR Competition. The team shall be as below.15 Vincent Mose14 Leon Adongo13 Kelvin Omiyo12 Innocent Simiyu (captain)11 Naftaly Bondo10 Nato Simiyu9 Gibson Weru8 Gray Cullen7 Paul Oimbo6 Benedict Nyambu5 Mike Aung4 Wilson Kopondo3 Daniel Kiptoo2 Vincent Ong'era1 Joel

• Kenya Cup: Life and Death battle Mean Machine on Nondies

  Posted: July 10, 2009, 3:03 pm by Back2Besics

  Engineers are rarely short of answers. However at times there are noanswers to things like why Mean Machine are yet to win a game in thisyears Kenya Cup.We have come back from a class trip that took us tohydroelectricity-generating plants. Just like Machine the countryfaces a severe energy crisis. In our group conclusion all those whohave cut, traded and currently live in forests should be

• Weekend Games

  Posted: July 10, 2009, 2:20 pm by DataMiner

  The Kenya Cup enters its fifth week with the big guns now having to face each other, having exhausted their easy start to the season. Kenya Harlequins host Nakuru, KCB host Impala, Machine host Nondies and Mwamba host Strathmore. Once more the Kenya team is away and it will affect performances. I expect the least affected will be Quins and KCB. Quins seem to have great depth and had no

• CAR Cup Update - Kenya 22 Senegal 7

  Posted: July 9, 2009, 12:56 pm by DataMiner

  Gray Cullen scored a brace of tries and captain Innocent Simiyu added one more for this win. Vincent Mose converted two and added a penalty of his own to make up the score. Kenya led 8 nil at half time courtesy on one of Cullen's tries and a Mose penalty.UPDATE: In the other match, Morocco overcame a stiff challenge from a much improved Cameroun side to win 12 nil. Kenya meet Morocco (in the

• CAR Cup Update - Kenya 22 Senegal 7

  Posted: July 9, 2009, 12:56 pm by DataMiner

  Gray Cullen scored a brace of tries and captain Innocent Simiyu added one more for this win. Vincent Mose converted two and added a penalty of his own to make up the score. Kenya led 8 nil at half time courtesy on one of Cullen's tries and a Mose penalty.

• CAR Cup Results - Kenya 22 Senegal 7

  Posted: July 8, 2009, 12:34 am by DataMiner

  Two tries by Gray Cullen and one by Innocent Simiyu were enough for the win. Vincent Mose topped up the points with two conversions and a penalty. Kenya led 8 nil at the break.

• Kenya Rugby 15's in Morocco for 'Africa Cup'

  Posted: July 8, 2009, 10:15 am by The Real KRFU

  The Kenya 15's are in Morocco for the Africa Cup. That is a first stepto becoming 'Champions of Africa'. Good luck to them as we surely needa boost for the real rugby game as they play catch up to the 7's.Kenya play Senegal who though are unknown should be good fodder forthe team. In the other semi hosts Morocco play Cameroon in what shouldbe a close encounter with Morocco having the edge.

• Kenya Cup Week 4

  Posted: July 7, 2009, 8:41 pm by DataMiner

  An eventful weekend. The middle order rose to the occasion and Mwamba scraped a win through. Despite Impala fielding all its players due to leave for Casablanca on Sunday (I don't know whether this is allowed), they failed to click and squandered a myriad of chances against a Mwamba outfit that had exhausted all its energy, efforts and ideas by the 50th minute of the game. The following day

• Kenya Cup Results

  Posted: July 4, 2009, 1:05 am by DataMiner

  KCB 57 Nondies 12 Quins 33 Machine 12 Nakuru 33 Strathmore 22.

• All Protocols Observed?

  Posted: July 4, 2009, 2:11 pm by ruggerbug

  Just the other day, I was commenting to a colleague at the short cuts we take in life these days. The way we avoid doing things that we think are plain and obvious to all to see. We tend to presume that people think the same way we do and we are totally in sync. An example is the protocol wars in our Grand Coalition Government. I don't dwell on politics in my posts, but it is just an example.

• Kenya Cup Result

  Posted: July 4, 2009, 5:13 am by ruggerbug

  Mwamba won the first Kenya Cup match to be played under floodlights 18 15. Quite a sizeable crowd at the game and I'm sure we'll see more of these. More tomorrow.

• Kenya Cup: Mean Machine smell victory over Quins

  Posted: July 3, 2009, 5:15 pm by Back2Besics

  Mean Machines first victory is this weekend versus Quins. Go Machinego. My mama and I will be there to support the comrades.Well in Kopo for making it to the Kenya 15's. Go win in Morocco andgood luck Kenya. Pity Felix Wanjala missed out but better for Machine.

• Weekend Games

  Posted: July 3, 2009, 2:03 pm by DataMiner

  Kenya Cup Week 4 and the action starts today, Friday 03 July. Impala host H2O Mwamba under floodlights from 7.30 p.m. Tomorrow sees Nondies host KCB, Quins host Machine, whilst Strathmore will host Nakuru at Impala. I can already see the clubs are taking facility sharing a bit more seriously than others. I have my reservations as to the quality of lighting at the Impala pitch, but then again

• Weekly Ramble

  Posted: July 2, 2009, 7:16 pm by DataMiner

  Now that the dust has settled and we're in our normal stride, I think it is time to sit back and take stock of what we are, where we are, and where we want to be. Two posts by Ruggerbug come to mind here. You can review them here and here. We have had a largely successful season so far, by our standards. We have successfully hosted the Junior World Rugby Trophy and the Safari Sevens. That is

• Breaking News: Kenya 15's Team to Morocco Named

  Posted: July 2, 2009, 3:06 pm by DataMiner

  This is directly from the KRFU Press Release.The following is the Kenya 15s Team that will represent the country at this year’s Confederation of Africa Rugby Trophy tournament to be held in Casablanca, Morocco from Wednesday 8th July – Saturday 11th July 2009.The team is due to depart on Sunday 5th July 2009 at 1500hrs and return on Monday 13th July 2009.1. Vincent Ongera - Kenya Harlequin FC

• In the Spirit of the Rugby Game : Questions for KRFU?

  Posted: July 1, 2009, 4:40 pm by The Real KRFU

  Now that the brouhaha of the 2009 Tusker Safari Sevens has settled, it is time for some serious questions to the custdians of the Kenyan Rugby game as we now enter the second half of the year.Firstly congrats to Nondies for hosting Lord Digby Jones who is a non-executive director of Leicester Tigers UK and a former UK Minister of State in Trade and Investment. Lord Jones unveiled a set of kit

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Fish cakes

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Yet more fish cakes

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The end of the fish cakes