The 2024 Prescott Cup will be played on a knockout basis following an agreement between the organisers, comprising secondary schools and Kenya Rugby Union representatives.
The teams have been selected based on the 2022 ranking. The top seed, Ofafa Jericho face Strathmore School, who were promoted last year at the latter’s backyard.
Mangu High School, seeded as the third-ranked team, face Nairobi School with Upper Hill School taking on Alliance High. The matches will be played on Saturday.
Rift Valley Academy (RVA) progressed to the semi-finals with a comfortable 33-0 win over Dagoretti High in a match played on Wednesday.
The tournament semifinal and final dates will be announced later. For several years the tournament has been played on round round-robin basis.
The 2023 edition was abandoned due to the busy second term school calendar which features Sevens rugby while some teams had not completed their pool fixtures by the time schools went for mid-term June last year.
Four-time winners Lenana are conspicuously missing from the list of teams as coach Nick Abok has opted to concentrate on the Sevens calendar.
“The school sat down and decided to focus on the Sevens programme. We don’t have the depth to compete in both the Prescott and the Sevens calendar,” said Abok. He said the delayed opening of schools for the second term contributed to their decision.
“Schools opened last week and we have not had enough time to train due to examinations,” he said.
Abok said they have trained their sights on John Andrew’s tournament in preparation for the County Sevens Championship in July.
“We want to qualify for the nationals like we did last year. I believe with the players we have, we can make a good run for it.”
The national are slated for July 29- August 7 in Kisii with Nairobi County expected to send two teams to the national championship.
Elsewhere, The Rugby Super Series women’s match pitting Eagles and Jaguars has been cancelled.
The match was supposed to bring together players from national teams but failed to kick off last weekend and has now been cancelled.
A statement by the KRU said the match has been cancelled following consultations between the KRU, Super Series organisers and Kenya Lionesses management.
