Cheetahs' coach Lawrence Buyachi has hailed the mental fortitude of his charges after bagging their third Super Series title on Saturday at the RFUEA ground.
The Cheetahs beat the Lions 18-10 in a pulsating final to cap off a memorable four-week tournament, which returned after a ten-year hiatus.
" The boys executed the plan very well. It was a tough final and the Lions pushed us hard. However, the boys showed composure and grit to eventually get over the line,” added Buyachi.
The tactician said they corrected their mistakes from the final pool match against the Rhinos which they lost 27-24.
“The changes we made in that match did not augur well for us and we went back to the drawing board and worked on them. I am glad it paid off,” he noted.
Two penalties from tournament top points scorer Quinto Ongo in between Levi Amunga’s penalty for the Lions gave the Cheetahs a 6-3 lead after a first half riddled with errors from both sides. Cheetahs led 6-3 at the interval.
On resumption, the Lions came out guns blazing and scored the opening try of the match courtesy of Givens Oduor with Amunga converting for a 10-6 lead.
The Cheetahs were not going down without a fight. Dennis Abukuse went on a superb run and offloaded the ball to the supporting Felix Odhiambo who combined with Samson Onsomu to score and give the Cheetahs an 11-10 lead.
The Cheetahs grew in confidence heading into the final quarter, taking advantage of the Lions' indecision and indiscipline which saw Griffin Musila sent to the sin bin.
Substitute Ibrahim Ayoo sealed the game for the Cheetahs with a second try converted by Abukuse to put the icing on the cake. Cheetahs Co-Captain Amos Obae was named the Rugby Super Series Player of the tournament.
The Nakuru RFC back-rower demonstrated consistent performance, starting in all the matches throughout the month-long tournament held in Nairobi, Nakuru and Kakamega.
His teammate Quinto Ongo was the top points scorer of the tournament after the Impala RFC player scored 22 points in the competition.
Three players – Griffin Chao (Buffaloes), Victor Odhiambo (Rhinos) and Givens Oduor (Lions) – were joint top try scorers with two tries each.
