Koyonzo Boys, the East Africa (EA) school games defending 7s rugby champions, defeated EA runners-up Vihiga Boys 24-7 to retain their Western region secondary schools rugby final title and secure a spot in the national school games.
The match, held on Wednesday, was a part of the rescheduled Western regional schools rugby games.
The original games were aborted at the quarter-final stage last weekend due to a referee boycott over unpaid match subsistence allowances and a lack of payment increases.
The regional rugby games, which had been halted, resumed mid-week following intervention by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), which deployed qualified secondary school teacher referees from other schools.
This was after a stalemate in negotiations between the education ministry and the previous group of referees, who had boycotted officiating.
The rescheduled games were hosted at St. Peters Mumias Secondary School due to its central location.
Koyonzo Boys, who finished third in the Kakamega County games, surged ahead in the resumed regional quarters, securing a semi-final spot against Musingu Boys.
In the first semi-final, Koyonzo Boys triumphed over Musingu 38-12, earning their place in the regional final against Vihiga Boys.
In the second semi-final, Vihiga Boys, last year’s EA rugby runners-up, narrowly defeated hosts St. Peters Mumias 15-12 to also qualify for the regional final.
Koyonzo Boys then overcame Vihiga Boys 24-7 in the regional final to advance to the national secondary schools games, scheduled to begin next week from July 29 and conclude on August 6.
Coach Eliud Okwemba credited Koyonzo’s victory to standout performances from Kevin Maiche, Beckham Wangila, and Eric Simiyu.
Despite the loss, Vihiga Boys also qualified for the national games. Koyonzo Boys and Vihiga Boys will represent Kenya at the East Africa secondary schools games in Huya, Rwanda, as they did last year.
After the regional final, a jubilant coach Okwemba expressed confidence that Koyonzo Boys, as the defending Western regional, national, and EA schools rugby champions, will win this year’s national final and go on to represent Kenya at the East Africa Schools games in Bukendiya, Uganda.
“We must play at the East Africa Schools games in Uganda. We need to proceed to Uganda to defend our title as EA rugby champions. However, we will first focus on winning our games stage by stage, from the national school games to the East Africa school games in Uganda,” Okwemba conveyed with optimism.
