Rugby giants Butula High School and All Saints Embu stormed the East Africa Secondary Schools Sports Association games rugby 15s sem-finals in Mbale, Uganda on Tuesday.
Butula, coached by Libondo Shimenga, edged compatriots Kitondo School 42-3 to book a place in the last four games at Mbale Rugby Union grounds. In the opening game, Butula Boys walloped Kings College 60-0.
“We are here for the trophy. However, we have the final hurdle in the group stage against Makerere. We want to win the game convincingly so that we top the group,” said Shimenga.
On the other hand, All Saints Embu beat Lenana School 45-11 to also qualify for the semi-finals. They led 35-5 at halftime. All Saints Embu had beaten defending regional champions St Mary’s Kisubi 24-23 in the opening game.
All Saints coach Benson Mwenda said: “The first game against St Mary’s was tough because they are the champions. However, we came here to win this tournament. We want to demonstrate we didn’t win the Kenyan title by fluke.”
He added: "We are taking all our games seriously. We want to make Kenya proud by winning the regional trophy.”
All Saints will conclude their group stage matches on Wednesday when they take on Namilyango College while Butula will battle it out with Makerere College.
Lenana School will face an acid test against defending champions St Mary’s Kisubi while Kitondo will battle it out with Kings College Buddo.
The rugby 7's competition also kicked off on Tuesday with Vihiga Boys edging Kisii School 12-7 while national champions Friends School Bwake thrashed Rwanda’s Gitisi 32-0. St. Mary's Yala ran over Dr Obote of Uganda
On Wednesday, Vihiga will face Gitisi from Rwanda while Kisii will play national champions at Friends School Bwake. St Mary’s School Yala will battle Jinja Secondary School in another game.
In the girls’ category, Kenya’s national champions St Joseph’s Kitale beat compatriots Nyagichenche 32-0 in the opening game.
“St Joseph’s was the better side today but we now turn our focus on the next game,” said Nyagichenche coach Dennis Onyango.
On Wednesday, St Joseph’s will hope to extend their winning streak when they face Jinja Secondary from Uganda while St Theresa’s Kithimu and Kinale Girls will face off in a Kenyan affair. Nyagichenche will be up against Jinja Secondary School.