For two seasons, South Coast Pirates Rugby Club’s ship capsized in the semi-finals, denying them a piece of the top-flight rugby league cake - the Kenya Cup.
However, backed by their sponsors, Base Titanium Kwale, Hemingways Watamu and other well-wishers, Pirates crafted a plan to take them to the topflight.
That plan paid dividends when the Pirates only lost one match in their regular season, 27-18, against Daystar Falcons to finish second in the KRU Championship regular season to reach their third successive Championship semi-final, where they would not only face Daystar Falcons yet again but claim sweet revenge 27-18 in Diani to qualify for Kenya Cup for the first time.
They now face 10-time Kenya Cup champions Impala in the Championship final on Saturday in Diani. Impala have also qualified for the Kenya Cup after two seasons in the Championship.
The last team from the Coastal region to grace the Kenya Cup is the Mombasa Rugby Football Club, relegated after the 2014/2015 season.
During the 2021/2022 season, the University of Nairobi’s Mean Machine dug deep to end Pirate’s dream Kenya Cup debut, winning 20-16 in the KRU Championship semi-final match played at Seacrest ground Ukunda, Kwale.
Pirates, founded by former international the late George Barbour in 2013, had beaten Kabarak University 14-11 away at the varsity ground in their last match of the season to finish top of the Championship with 42 points from nine wins and two losses.
South Coast Pirates (yellow) and Mombasa RFC (red) engage in a scrum during their Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) Championship match in Diani on December 09, 2023. Pirates won 24-03.
Photo credit: Pool
It’s the most successful team in the Kenya Cup, Nondescripts, who halted Pirates’ charge to the Kenya Cup, beating them 39-10 in the 2022/2023 Championship semi-final at the Ngong Racecourse, Nairobi.
Pirates had lost to Daystar University’s Falcons 22-25 in their last Championship match to finish fourth in the league and set up a tie against leaders Nondies.
“Our target during the 2021/2022 season was just to survive and feature in the play-offs but reaching the semi-finals was surreal and my young players were excited,” says Pirates coach Kelvin Amiani.
“We had surpassed our targets and qualifying for Kenya Cup could have been a bigger task that we weren't ready for,” explains Amiani, adding that his young team couldn’t have handled the pressure the top-flight league came with.
Come the 2022/2023 season, the Pirates lost key players, leaving a big vacuum in its forward department. Key players like Kennedy Ombachi, Dominic Atira, Ferdinand Ombachi, Timothy Osaji and Scott Lugara left the club.
Nevertheless, the Pirates finished fourth despite losing to Daystar University Falcons 33-25 in the last duel of the regular Championship season as they set up Nondies, who have won the Kenya Cup a record 17 times.
“We didn’t have the depth especially after our forwards left and we had to source out for new players from high school and colleges,” notes Amiani. “Nondies were a better side oozing experience.”
This time round, with their sponsors providing resources, they also got a major boost when one of their forwards, who left, Osaji, returned.
They also signed seven players for the new seasons, including two from Nakuru - Gilbert Ochieng and Newton Miro.
“We planned well looking at the fixtures and I am glad that our sponsors came in strongly to facilitate a good pre-season training,” says Amiani. “Not the way we want but our sponsors provided resources that provided good comfort.”
Pirates chairman Kelvin Nduhiu says their sponsors came in handy when it had proved difficult to attract players from outside, with Pirates being the only rugby-playing side from the region.
“Most of our players are drawn locally from high schools and colleges and put into our academy that we started in 2014. We are providing a pathway for talent here,” notes Nduhiu, singling out his captain, Kenya under-20 international Charles Tendwa, as one of the success stories from Diani.
“We believed this was our season to make it to Kenya Cup and we want to crown it all with Championship victory,” says Nduhiu, adding that they will now have to recruit some experienced players besides strengthening their technical bench ahead of Kenya Cup.
“We are not going to the Kenya Cup just to participate but to win matches and retain our place there. It will be a failed project if we are relegated," explains Nduhiu, who hails his forwards coach Brian Nyikuli for his expertise.
Nyikuli is a former Kenya Simbas skipper who played for KCB, Strathmore University Leos and Impala Rugby Clubs.
“We shall need Nyikuli permanently in Diani besides recruiting a strength and conditioning coach, quality players among other things. We don’t want shock up there,” explains Nduhiu, a former Mean Machine player.
