•The Kakamega-based side beat arch-rivals KCB 19-09 at the Kakamega ASK Showground on Saturday to settle for the Kenya Cup title.
•Kabras head coach Carlos Katywa said with Kenya Cup now in the bag, the next target is Enterprise Cup and Sevens circuit.
Image: FILE
After winning the Kenya Cup over the weekend, Kabras Sugar have shifted focus on retaining the Enterprise Cup.
The Kakamega-based side beat arch-rivals KCB 19-09 at the Kakamega ASK Showground on Saturday to settle for the Kenya Cup title.
Kabras head coach Carlos Katywa said with Kenya Cup now in the bag, the next target is Enterprise Cup and Sevens circuit.
Katywa said they have had a good run and hope to extend the same to the remaining two important tournaments ahead. Last year, the sugar millers defeated KCB 9-6 to win the Enterprise Cup in a final match at the RFUEA Grounds, Nairobi.
This time around, they are hoping to involve their youthful players more because their senior counterparts will be engaged at the national team level.
“We are giving a chance to young players because some seniors will be involved with the national team. However, the junior players must prove they are ready for the challenge,” said Katywa.
Katywa praised his players, saying they exceeded match expectations in a game of two halves. “Truly and honestly speaking, we give glory to God for giving us this opportunity again. It was a game of two halves and it was a matter of who used the bench properly. My boys were exceptional and I can’t fault them anywhere. We spoke about the defence winning the game and they lived up to expectations. We handled line-outs 95 percent,” he said.
He said in the first half, they did not handle the game well but rectified their mistakes in the second half. “The boys deserved victory and played well. The passion was evident at the final whistle as they were still energetic. They could easily have played for 20 more minutes or so. We deployed a few tactics and mind games and we knew how to deal with our opponents,” he said.
He said the competition this year is top notch and teams were better equipped. “Look at Kenya Harlequins for example. They fought off relegation and ended up in the semifinals. This means we have to go out and recruit well. We are on top now and we need to maintain what we have and become better and better,” he said.
His opponent Curtis Olago said the game belonged to both teams and his side equally pushed hard. “The boys pushed hard and played good rugby but it wasn’t our day. We will try harder next time. A game is all about managing mistakes and they managed their mistakes better, kudos to them. Now we are looking at the next generation of KCB. For now, we are going to sit down and look at the Sevens circuit and plan for the next season,” he said.