Kabras Sugar's George Nyambua (right) goes past Nondescript's Ian Omoke (down) during their Kenya Cup match at Impala Club grounds on December 9, 2023.
Champions Kabras Sugar achieved a rare and admirable feat in 2016 when they won the Kenya Cup in only their second season in the elite league.
George Nyambua, a Bungoma High School alumnus, who will be making his 10th consecutive Kenya Cup semi-final, was part of that history writing squad.
Nyambua, 36, will captain Kabras Sugar against Nondescripts on Saturday in their Kenya Cup semi-final encounter as he looks to stay on track for his fifth Kenya Cup title that will make him the first player this millennium to achieve such a feat.
“I just want to go all the way and fight like a wounded lion to lift the title. It will be such a great honour being among the few players to have won Kenya Cup five times.
“In fact, if I am not wrong, I will be the first player to make it to 10 consecutive finals,” said Nyambua, who was part of the inaugural Kabras Sugar squad that lifted the 2015/2016 Kenya Cup trophy, just in their second season in the top flight league.
The only other surviving players from the maiden Kenya Cup winning team are Jone Kubu and Brian Tanga, who are currently with the Kenya Sevens team.
“For me, I never knew my rugby career would come this far. I never set my target so high but here I am, having ticked the boxes, improving with every game,” said Nyambua, who was drawn into rugby in 2011 while in Form Two at Bungoma High School.
The Kenya Simbas skipper, who stands at 1.93m in his socks and weighs 115kg still harbours hopes of playing professional rugby outside the country but his focus now is helping Kabras Sugar achieve unimaginable heights in rugby.
“ I want Kabras to break the record of five consecutive wins set by Nondies and Impala,” said the big forward. Nondies won five back-to-back Kenya Cup titles from 1978 to 1982 and Impala from 1970 to 1974.
Nyambua, fondly known as “Jijo” briefly trained with Kisumu Rugby Club after finishing high school in 2013 but was quickly snatched by Kabras Sugar the same year and is now on the brink of writing history, for his club at least.
A quick rewind. Kabras faced a baptism of fire in their maiden Kenya Cup season 2014/2015. They lost 13-3 to KCB, 13-10 to Nakuru, 18-16 to Nondies and 22-17 to Mwamba during the regular season.
However, Kabras made it to the semi-finals turning tables on 2013 and 2014 champions, Nakuru 15-12 before falling 27-3 to KCB in the finals.
Nyambua recalls how then their chairman Ray Olendo had set a top-six finish as their inaugural target.
“But when we reached the semi-finals, as players, we decided why not try to go further even though we know we were playing formidable defending champions.
“I remember they had not lost at home for close to three or two years. But we put up a great show, winning to make our first Kenya Cup final in our first season. It was incredible,” said one of Kabras’s most consistent player.
