Upper Hill, Lenana to renew rivalry in Nairobi region rugby 15s finals

Nairobi region rugby powerhouses Upper Hill and Lenana will renew their rivalry on Saturday after seeing off Dagoretti High School and Nairobi School respectively in the rugby 15s semi-finals on Friday in the ongoing Kenya Secondary School Sports Association Nairobi region school games held at Jamhuri High School.

Upper Hill thumped Dagoretti Mixed 22-7 in the first semi-final to book their second successive final berth, their first finals appearance since 2018.

The former champions got off the canvas through Albert Wambeyi who tossed past Dagoretti’s High players to score their first try but failed to convert, making the score 5-0.

Otuoma Randy brilliantly scored the second set with Augustine Makuli converting to give Upper Hill a 12-0 lead into the break.

Upper Hill were men on a mission, underlining their intent to kill off the game with an on-form Albert Wembeyi producing another brilliant run to score his side’s third try, however they failed to convert yet again.

The last year's runners up added the fourth through Hosea Simiyu to give his side a 22-0 lead before Kelly Benedict gave Dagoretti a consolation try in the dying embers of the game.

Upper Hill’s head coach Powell Gwena lauded his charges for their emphatic win, noting they were going to put in an impressive shift to clinch the national’s ticket.

“We have played a fantastic game today; we are happy to have won. We will go to the final with an urge to win and proceed to the nationals.”

And after making Ofafa Jericho relinquish their title on Thursday with a 24-12-win, Nairobi School stood no chance against a brilliant Lenana who thumped them 29-10 to set up a blockbuster final showdown with Upper Hill on Saturday.

Inspired by man of the match Joel Odego, Lenana staged a brilliant start to the game with the prodigy scoring a brilliant penalty to give them the lead.

Gregory Mogire then dodged past Nairobi School defence to slot home a try with Odego making no mistake in conversion to give them a 10-0 lead. Ian Kipkazi reduced their arrears as he slotted home a penalty for Nairobi as the game headed to the break with a score line of 10-3 in favour of Lenana.

The second half produced a different show with Nairobi school threatening to spoil the party as Ronny Obala scored as Ian Kipkazi converted to store parity for Nairobi.

However, their celebrations were cut short as they conceded three penalties with conversion specialist Joel Odego brilliantly converting to give Lenana a commanding 22-10 lead.

Alvin Njau then completed Nairobi School’s rout with another brilliant score as Joel Odego made no mistake in converting to put the game to bed.

Lenana will be seeking revenge against Upper Hill in the final as Gwena’s led side trounced them 14-12 in a tightly contested rugby 7s final in last year's second term regional school games.

Head coach Nick Abok is confident they will put behind their last year’s upset in Rugby 7s upset to reign supreme over their arch rivals.

“If we maintain our discipline, I’m confident we will reign supreme,” noted Abok.

At the same venue, reigning champions Hospital Hill trounced Aquinas 26-23 to set up a final showdown with Highway who clobbered Lenana 31-12 in the boys’ category.

This will be a repeat of last year’s final where Hospital Hill saw off Highway 26-23 in an epic see-saw tussle.

In the girls' category, reigning champions Dagoretti Mixed hammered Utawala Academy 38-15 in the first semi-final as Highridge Girls Secondary School stunned Ruai Girls Secondary School 29-22.

Mwiki Secondary School reigned supreme in girls’ hockey as they whitewashed Starehe Girls 4-0 to set up a mouth-watering clash with Pangani Girls who saw off Ngara 1-0 in another semi-final.

In the boys' final, Starehe who stunned Upper Hill 1-0 will play Nairobi School who saw off Highway Secondary School 2-0 in a late kick-off.

In basketball 3x3 Aga Khan Academy who emerged victorious over St. Hannah’s Girls School with a 29-13 will play Raila Educational Center who trounced Ngara 46-4.

In the boys’ category, hosts Jamhuri blew away Starehe 47-20 while Dagoretti High School beat Nairobi School 50-23. The two will now fight for the national slot in a much-awaited final on Saturday.