St. Michael High School Kipsombe proved to be the team to reckon following their double victory in rugby during Uasin Gishu Secondary Schools Sports Association that came to an end today at the University of Eldoret grounds.
Coached by Timothy Natembeya, the school collected both rugby7s and 15s titles to earn two slots for the regional championships to be hosted in Nandi County in a week’s time.
In the first encounter, the Natembeya team won the 15s with an 8-0 win over Wareng High school before stunning Mwiruti 10-0 in 7s.
In the 15s, Joshua Onyango touched down first before Jackson Toya failed to add extras as his shot went wide in the first half.
After water break, Toya converted a penalty to earn the ticket in one of the highly charged final.
In the 7s category, the champions took advantage of Mwiruti defence to win with Blaise Mwangi and Ian Kariuki touching down. Mwangi failed to convert his first try as well as Kariuki’s.
Natembeya said his focus is to play at the national championships after losing out at the quarterfinals in the 2018 at the regions.
“Our target is to play at the nationals. We are well prepared for the championships that is why we managed to win a double, which is rare for any school,” said Natembeya.
At the semifinals, the 15s champions were 10-05 winners against Kapsoya as the finalists were 3-5 winners over Kamoiywa.
In the quarters, Kipsombe defeated Uasin Gishu 15-0 in one of the highest scores, Wareng beat Arnesens 0-3, Kamoiywa were 13-0 winners over Moi Barracks while Kapsoya were 0-3 winners against Simat.
At the 7s semifinals, the winners defeated Arnesens’ 0-20 with Mwiruti beating Taldet 0-5 in sudden death play-off following a barren draw in normal time.
In the quarters, Kippsombe were 5-0 winners against Barracks, Arnesens’ 07-0 against Kamagut, Mwiruti registered a 12-0 over Kapsoya while Taldet defeated Cheplaskei 15-0.