Machine roll over Impala as ref survives injury scare

Mean Machine captain Lesley Libasia is congratulated by Impala Club players after the Impala Floodlit rugby tournament at Impala Club on Saturday night. Mean Machine won the match 20-16.

Only rugby players sustain injuries but last Saturday was an exception when the Impala Floodlit play-off between Kenya Commercial Bank and Mwamba was stopped for three minutes in the second half for the referee Raymond Oruo to receive medical attention.

Mean Machine captain Lesley Libasia is congratulated by Impala Club players after the Impala Floodlit rugby tournament at Impala Club on Saturday night. Mean Machine won the match 20-16. Photo by Chris Omollo

Oruo, one of the top referees got in the way of players and was knocked down. The game went on for a few seconds before some of the fans shouted ‘referee down’ to the amusement of players. He was attended to and continued to officiate. "It is one of those things," he said.

Mean Machine won their eighth Impala Impala Floodlit title in 11 appearances in the final by beating Impala 20-16 in a closely contested final. The pace was furious with sibling rivalry between the Simiyu brothers Innocent (Mean Machine), Nato and Victor Sudi on the opposite end. Peter Ocholla also played alongside his elder brother Mitchell for Impala.

The final was like a meeting of friends with the bulk of former Mean Machine players - Paul Sadat, Ken Nyagetuba, Joseph Mutisya, Mike Gitaru, and Mwirigi Kinagwi - playing for Impala. But, Mean Machine also ‘borrowed’ Hilary Itela from Nondescripts and Innocent Simiyu from Impala.

Incidents

None of the defending champions climbed the podium. Kenya Commercial Bank finished third while Lenana played second fiddle to Nairobi School. 

Good neighbourliness between Impala Club and one of the Jamhuri Estate residents briefly came a cropper. Apparently perturbed by the noise and the balls, which were frequently kicked into her compound a resident briefly, confiscated the ball.

Two Nation TV news anchors Sophie Ikenye and Winnie Mukami did not have to tackle any of the rugby players. They had their moment on the pitch after being thrown in the deep end to present some of the awards. The crowd surged to verify their identity. "We just want to have a closer look whether they are for real," one fan joked.

Sometimes, the extreme happens. Two hunky bodyguards were detailed to keep ‘rowdy’ fans from harassing local musician Jua Cali who staged a brief performance. Their services were grossly under ulitilised as nothing untoward happened. 

Sin bin

NBD’s Head of TV Alex Kobia barely showed any emotions as he presented the winning trophy to Mean Machine. He knows the feeling as a player for the same team.

Earlier, Mean Machine captain Leslie Libasia had come off the ‘sin bin’ to steer his team to the title .

Libasia and Steve Ogada were sin-binned towards the end of the first half of this explosive match watched by a big crowd. Former Mean Machine player Mike Gitaru, later named the tournament’s most valuable player, kicked his new team into the lead in the 13th minute.

This marked the beginning of furious exchanges between the two sides with Mean Machine having an upper hand in the forwards. The lead changed hands when Paul Weloba awarded the students a penalty try in the 21st minute after former Impala player Timothy Wambu was fouled. Joseph Kamau converted. Libasia was sent off in the 33rd minute but the numerical advantage worked against Impala as Fred Nzui raced over three minutes later.Kamau was sure. On the buzzer. Steve Ogada joined his captain in the ‘sin bin’.

A penalty by Gitaru and try by Victor Sudi brought Impala to within one point of Mean Machine who led 14-13. Sibling rivalry came into play as Innocent Simiyu, Sudi’s younger brother drilled over a drop goal for Machine to open a four-point gap.

Impala prop Peter Wekesa’s turn to the 'sin-bin' came in the 58th minute. Kamau kicked over a penalty and Gitaru landed a 33-metre effort for Impala.

"We were better in the forwards and controlled the pace," said Libasia. Impala coach Charles Ngovi admitted his team did not settle. "We missed scoring opportunities, the kick off was bad and allowed them room to attack."

In the play-off, last year’s champions KCB powered past an under-strength Mwamba 34-10. Backrow, John Ahenda who was named man of the match and top try scorer marshalled his team and took the initiative.

Nick Watila, the tournament’s most promising player put over a penalty in the 12th minute after David Wambua’s attempt for Mwamba in the eighth bounced off the post. Richmond ‘Uhuru’ Barasa established Mwamba’s lead in the 18th minute off a rolling maul but KCB was back barely five minutes later with Ahenda crossing the line.

Watila, Newton Ong’alo, Arnold Odera and Andrew Amonde each scored a try for KCB in the second half. Barasa scored his second.

Mike Gitaru was the tournaments most valuable player, which came with Sh5,000. Odera Owino, last year’s Mean Machine captain was the man of the match in the final and John Ahenda in the play off. Each pocketed Sh2,000. Odera later joked: "I will use this money to complete a ‘simba’ at home."