St Michael Kipsombe High School coach Timothy Natembeya has vowed to end the jinx of North Rift counties failing to shine in rugby sevens at the Kenya Secondary School Sports Association (KSSSA) Rift Valley region games.
Kipsombe, from Uasin Gishu County, defeated Simat Secondary during the county championships to qualify for regional championships but Natembeya is already thinking about competing at the national level.
He said it is high time that they won the regional and national titles and compete at the Federation of East Africa Secondary Schools Sports Association in Arusha, Tanzania.
“We have been targeting good results each time and our main aim is to reach the nationals and compete at the East Africa championships. The county has not been shining but we want to break that jinx,” said Natembeya.
Before the school games were cancelled in 2020, the Kipsombe had qualified for both the rugby 7s and 15s but once action resumed, the longer version was struck off and Natembeya believes they still have what it takes to succeed.
Kipsombe beat Simat 19-07 with tries from Sammy Kipkoech and Victor Kiprotich at Wareng High School in Eldoret.
In a water-soaked field, Kipkoech touched down first with Brian Kipchirchir missing the conversion for a 5-0 lead before Kiprotich went past the try line, touching between the posts with Kipchirchir hiting the conversion for a 12-0 into water break.
Simat then resumed with speed, pressing the leaders and their efforts paid off when Franklin Maritim converted his try for 12-7 deficit but Kipkoech touched down for his brace as Kipchirchir added the extras for a final 19-7 scoreline.
