“Pool ‘A’ is the toughest but we are equally good. We played Kisii School and All Saints in the finals. St Patrick’s being champions from Rift Valley is also a good side. So we expect highly competitive games in our pool,” said the veteran tactician.
Butula retained the Western region title after a hard-fought 10-3 win over archrivals and national 7s champions Koyonzo 10-3. Butula's 3-0 win over Vihiga Boys in the semis while Koyonzo overcame Bungoma High 24-6.
“The competition in Western is stiff and emerging winners from there will give us an edge over our rivals at nationals,” added a confident Shimenga.
Meanwhile, Kisii School coach Lee Aristone has set his sights on the national trophy after stamping their authority in Nyanza and ending the dominance of Maseno School and St Mary’s Yala,
“Last year in Eldoret, we were eliminated at the group stage. This was mainly due to stage fright and inexperience. This time, we have a better team which I believe will go all the way to the final,” said Aristone who is also the Kisii RFC head coach.
Kisii inspired the competition’s most valuable player Matrix Matangi, to beat St Mary’s Yala 8-5 in extra time to lift the title for the second consecutive year during the championship held at Kisumu School.
Kisii captained by Morgan Ochiel had silenced Maseno School 3-0 to progress to the finals. “Beating Maseno and Yala is not a mean feat. They had dominated the rugby scene in Nyanza for many years,” said Aristone.
