VIHIGA Boys stormed the rugby 15s semi-finals on Wednesday as the Brookside Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) Term One Games entered Day Two at Shimo la Tewa High School in Mombasa.
Vihiga, the East Africa Sevens champions, edged Friends School Bwake 5-3 in a hotly contested match to qualify for Friday’s semi-finals.
Bwake struck first through Emmanuel Makokha’s penalty after 21 minutes, a lead they took to the break.
However, Vihiga turned the tie on its head through Emmanuel Herbert’s unconverted try in the 80th minute.
Vihiga head coach Abdalla Abubakar said: “It was a tight game. We made mistakes we were not supposed to.
These included knock-ons, line-outs and not sticking to our game structure.
The competition is tough and teams are well prepared, thus the slim margins.” They target improvement in their last group stage game against Marafa.
“We need to improve and win comprehensively against Marafa to top the group,” noted the veteran coach.
Bwake’s Director of Rugby, Ben Amboko, said they have shifted focus to their “must-win encounter against Kisii School”.
“We made some errors, but now our focus is on Kisii. They’ll bear the brunt. We are coming up with a tight script,” said Amboko.
National and East Africa champions All Saints Embu, coached by Benson Mwenda, qualified for the semifinals after a hard-fought 9-3 win over Upper Hill from Nairobi.
Nyanza champions Kisii School got their campaign back on track after beating coast region champions Marafa 20-5 in their second game.
In the opening game, Kisii, three-time Nyanza champions, lost 11-9 to Vihiga while Bwake overcame Marafa 13-9. Kisii School coach Edwin Morara said Thursday’s game against Bwake is a do-or-die clash.
“Both teams need to win the game to qualify for the semifinals. We narrowly lost to Vihiga in the opening game but bounced back to win against Marafa,” said Morara.
Kisii exited the nationals at the group stage in the last two editions. Morara wants to change the narrative.
On Thursday, All Saints,Embu will complete their group stage matches against Mang’u, while Serani will battle Upper Hill School.
