Kenya Simbas will have to work on their discipline and open play if they are to uphold their dominance over Uganda Rugby Cranes in the second leg of the Elgon Cup scheduled for Saturday in Kampala.
It was a thrilling exchange of leads as defending champions Simbas edged out Cranes 27-25 at the Rugby Football Union of East Africa (RFUEA) ground in the first leg on Saturday.
A brace of tries from scrum-half Brian Wahinya and a try apiece from winger Griffin Chao, eighth man Jeason Misoga were what Simbas, who trailed 14-12 at half time, needed to walk away with the close home win.
Fullback Timothy Omela managed two conversions while substitute Fijian-turned-Kenyan Jone Kubu curled over a penalty.
Winger Philip Odrua scored a brace while eighth man Pius Ogeno and centre Thomas Ogwokto land a try each for the hard battling Cranes .
“Our discipline in the tackle line was wanting but my main worry was the high tackles. The penalties were 50-50 but our set-pieces were good,” said Kenya Simbas coach Jerome Paawater.
The South African coach said they didn’t want to play a lot with the backs so as to keep possession.
“Playing a test match with only five days of preparations was bound to be tough, “ said Paawater. “We shall review the match on Monday.”
Kenya Simbas skipper George Nyambua hailed his charges for good work in set pieces especially the line-outs and scrums.
“Our open play and discipline didn’t go well but we shall work on that for next Saturday,” said Nyambua.
Cranes coach Fred Mudoola said they might have played well in open play but fell short of their target.
“We wanted to win here then finish it off in Uganda. Our kicking was bad and ball retention,” said Mudoola
The Simbas were the first to roar strongly with Wahinya and fly-half Barry Young combining well on the right to set up Chao for his maiden international try. Omela failed to convert as the Simbas led 5-0.
The exciting Cranes would get back at the home side, forcing mistakes to benefit from three successive penalties in front of the posts but Odrua missed two with Hashim Sembusi blasting wide one.
The Simbas exchanged some fine offloads before Misoga landed from the rolling maul deep in Ugandan territory. Omela converted for Simbas to lead 12-0.
When Misoga was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle soon after the Cranes made use of their numerical advantage to score a try via Ogeno before centre Ogwokto beat the Simbas defence to score at the centre. Oredo converted to put Cranes ahead 14-12 at the break.
The Cranes were forceful on resumption to get another penalty that Oredo curled over to stretch their lead to 17-12.
The Simbas slowly ploughed back on Misoga’s return with strong scrummages before Wahinya landed off the maul. Omela drilled over from a tight angle as Kenya reclaimed the lead 19-17.
On a roll, the home team claimed their line-out to set up rolling maul as Wahinya sneaked in on the blindside to seal his brace of tries. The Simbas led 24-17 after Omela’s failed to convert.
Odrua landed his second try to inch closer 24-22 but Kubu’s kept Kenya ahead to the relief of the fair crowd at the stand.
