Eight-time champions KCB Rugby roared into Kisumu on Wednesday, ready for the potentially explosive Kenya Cup final against holders Kabras Rugby on Saturday.
For the bankers, it will be a game of wits, and the team that stays stronger in the duel will triumph at the ground that is fondly known as the Forest.
The two giants that have dominated Kenyan rugby circles for the last decade will meet for the seventh time in the final, where the home team hopes to seal their third successive crown.
KCB have had the lion’s share, winning five of the past six final encounters that they have faced Kabras Sugar, with their last victory coming in 2021, where they won 28-25 in the final played at KCB Ruaraka.
Kabras Sugar won their first title in their second season in the Kenya Cup when they beat Impala 22-5 in the rain-drenched final of the 2015/2016 season.
They met Menengai Oilers in the 2021/2022 season final at the Bullring, Kakamega, where the sugarmen rallied from behind to win 34-28 before facing KCB in last season’s final to win 19-9 at the Kakamega Showground.
This term, KCB, who have been rebuilding for the last two seasons, lost two matches during the regular season - 21-7 to Menengai Oilers and 14-10 to Kabras.
However, they returned to claim revenge against the Oilers in the semi-final, winning 21-12 in Ruaraka as Kabras steam-rolled over Nondescripts 37-9 in the other last-four tie.
“The final is a game of chances, a game of opportunities and a game of who is fresh on that particular day,” said KCB deputy coach Dennis “Ironman” Mwanja. “It will also depend on who gets to benefit from that lucky bounce of the ball.”
Mwanja said that they have been trying to rebuild in the last two seasons, and luckily they know their way to the final.
“But it takes certain maturity to win the final and our charges are maturing well and looking for better results this season, having drawn lessons from their two losses against the Oilers and the champions,” explained Mwanja.
Mwanja, a former Kenya Simbas and Kenya Sevens forward, noted that the KCB side that won the 2023 SportPesa National Sevens Circuit was new.
KCB have lost some of its key players, mostly to retirement, in the last two seasons, and Mwanja noted that winning five Kenya Cup titles, four of them in successive seasons, isn’t easy.
Some of the KCB players that have hanged their boots after some illustrious careers with the club are the skipper and prop Curtis Lilako, hooker George Asin, flanker Andrew Amonde, lock Oliver Mangeni, back row Brian Nyikuli, Peter Kaaria and Moses Amusala.
In a previous interview, KCB head coach Curtis Olago said that a strong culture and huge backing from their sponsors, KCB, has helped the club build a formidable foundation since he took charge in 2013.
“That is why we are still reaching the final even as we rebuild with an average age of 23…you can aim for the moon but reach the stars but feel happy,” explained Olago.
