Kenya University Rugby Club’s coach, Bernard Rotich, conducts a training session at the university’s sports ground.
Kenyatta University’s rugby team Blak Blad’s story of fighting for survival in the top-flight Kenya Cup rugby league for over a decade reads like a script straight out of Hollywood.
The university outfit will be celebrating its Golden Jubilee next year, and hopes to do that by qualifying for the Kenya Cup play-off semi-finals for the very first time.
Without a sponsor, benefactor or meaningful source of income, Blak Blak live a day at a time, and a week at a time, fueled by the proud history of the club and a desire to claim their first Kenya Cup title.
Those who have followed the history of Blak Blad and their rivalry with their more illustrious peers, University of Nairobi’s Mean Machine, will understand the motivation of the Thika Superhighway-based rugger guys.
Whereas Mean Machine have won three Kenya Cup titles, their “younger brothers” have never come close to winning the Kenyan championship despite 50 years of prominently playing rugby in the country
The current Blak Blad squad exhibits the intense brotherhood of the great KU sides of yore, and a culture steeped in discipline that has been cultivated over the past few years.
“It’s so funny that we don’t operate with a budget because we don’t have a consistent form of funding,” Blak Blad’s chairman Allan Ominde says when the Nation caught up with the team at their Kenyatta University base on Wednesday.
Blak Blad’s chairman Allan Ominde at the university grounds on Wednesday.
He says that their worry is always how to honour their Kenya Cup fixtures when they have little to nothing in their bank account.
The 2024/2025 Kenya Cup season kicks off this weekend.
Ambitious Blak Blad open their title campaign at home to Nakuru today.
They will then host Impala on November 30 before travelling to RFUEA ground on Ngong Road, Nairobi to take on Kenya Harlequin a week later.
But even hosting a game has cost implications.
“That is what I am working on. For instance pitch marking, medical provision and referees’ hospitality have to be paid for,” said Ominde.
“Then next week, we shall work on honouring the Impala fixture away. Transport, medical and other expense come in.”
Ominde said that many will be shocked that the university only supports them in Kenya Cup.
“The university has been kind to us over the years providing training facilities, allowances, transport and accommodation but only on Kenya Cup match day.”
So they are forced to fend for themselves in other tournaments appearing in the Kenya Rugby Union calendar like the National Sevens Circuit, Enterprise Cup, Impala Floodlit, Great Rift 10-a-side and Mwamba Cup.
Ominde said they have time and again written sponsorship proposals, walked around with begging bowls but no major benefactor has walked their way.
“There has been nothing as tough as seeking donations and partnership with companies out there . It’s not easy to make someone’s money yours and at the same time, you can't budget without money.
“We support ourselves and through well-wishers. Many are former players and former students of Kenyan University,” says Ominde, who is happy that the institution has increased Kenya Cup match allowances from Sh125 to Sh350.
Kenya University rugby player, Feneey Ahona, engages the after-burners as teammate David Ochieng looks on during training at the university’s grounds on Wednesday.
“We don’t have 100 per cent support from the institution but we must be grateful for the ground for training, we don’t take it for granted. These challenges have never distracted us from our main goal of winning Kenya Cup.”
Despite the funding challenges, Blak Blad have given the richer Kenya Cup sides a run for their money. Last season, the university club reached their maiden Kenya Cup play-offs, eventually finishing fifth.
‘Blad’, as the team is sometimes referred to as, finished fourth at this year’s season-opening Impala Floodlit Rugby tournament after losing 22-6 to Menengai Oilers. This was one place outside their third-place finish last season.
However, the university lads showed their strength by famously ending KCB’s five-year reign in the quarter-final in a tight 9-8 win.
“We have had a good pre-season, and we are training hard, trying to polish on the mistakes that cost us a Kenya Cup semi-final place last season, and victory at Impala Floodlit tournament a few weeks ago,” said Ominde.
He revealed that they conceived the idea of beating the eight-time Kenya Cup champions KCB back in 2018/2019 season.
“We came close to defeating KCB that season. We could have won but for poor officiating as we lost 20-15,” says Ominde. Blak Blad had last beaten the bankers in 2003.
Ominde says self belief is what propelled them to victory.
“We used to talk about play-offs that looked far-fetched because not all players believed in that,” explains Ominde, who now feels Blad is on to something.
Ominde says they are focused on producing another good season, only aiming higher despite the obvious lack of resources.
“We are dealing with a set of players aged between 18 to 26, who are not better placed in life, this being a public university. Some of them come from backgrounds that are experiencing the other side of life. There are some players who come for training and yet they have not had lunch, and not because of choice.
“They come with the hope that after training, they will get something to support them. We always say ‘Shida zetu hutuleta pamoja’ -- Our problems unite us),” said Ominde.
He stated that unlike most established teams who take finished products from other teams, Blak Blad always recruits fresh players coming out of high school.
“They only move out after graduating when they are offered better contracts. It is more of what they give the team than what they get from the team,” said Ominde.
“For instance, the last time the institution provided a playing kit for the team was in 2013. We either get the kits from well-wishers or tournaments where sponsors are kind to provide them,” said Ominde.
Blak Blad coach Bernard Rotich attributed the team’s rise to team work and discipline.
“We have a code of conduct that binds all the players and technical team within the Blak Blad family,” says Rotich.
He said they have increased the number of training sessions from three times a week to five or six times, and all players are putting in their shift knowing what the rewards will be.
“We have improved player welfare where we make them a little bit comfortable, doing shopping for some of them, buying kit, fitness supplement besides taking care of those with injuries,” said Rotich.
Talking about reaching the play-offs last season for the first time, Rotich said it was a road they had travelled for three years.
Blak Blad finished 10th in the 2018/2019 season, eighth in 2019/2020, sixth in 2021/2022 and fifth in 2022/2023.
“We have come a long way and we are living our dream and working towards our goals of having a home semi-final. We learnt that there is no room for mistakes in play-offs,” said Rotich.
Rotich pointed out that they have been able to avoid relegation from the Kenya Cup since 2012 even as Mean Machine all but disappeared from this top level league.
With training numbers of over 90 players, Blak Blad certainly does not lack in personnel.
Ominde and Rotich say they won’t tire from making appeals for sponsorship.
They want KRU to reintroduce subsidies that were last given to Kenya Cup teams 2019 saying they will help self-supporting clubs ease the financial shortfalls they constantly face.
They also want to see fair refereeing.
“Not that they are incompetent but some of them just come to matches with a fixed mind that some teams are not supposed to win,” said Ominde.
Blak Blad skipper Ernest Obat has warned Nakuru to prepare for a tough battle, as they seek their first win against the Great Rift since the 2022 season.
"We have retained most of the players from last season and we shall ride on the experience from the play-offs," said Obat.
"The mindset is strong, having built confidence through training and skill work."
Could this be their season?
