There’s a version of this story where KCB simply win. They arrived in Kisumu unbeaten, having steamrolled the Prinsloo Sevens field in Nakuru without dropping so much as a close result. On paper, the Dala 7s looked like a formality for the defending champions.
Rugby, mercifully, doesn’t work off paper.
The cracks started small. A 19-19 draw against MMUST in the pools the kind of result that raises an eyebrow rather than an alarm turned out to be a preview of what was coming. By the time the quarter-finals arrived, Kenya Harlequins had turned that eyebrow-raiser into the shock of the season, knocking KCB out and ending their title defence in one afternoon. The Bankers would eventually settle for 5th, beating Strathmore 24-17 in a match that meant considerably less than the one they’d just lost.
Harlequins, for their trouble, didn’t get the fairytale finish either. Mwamba 7s stood between them and third place, and refused to move. Locked together at 17-17 after eighty minutes, the two sides needed extra time to find a winner Mwamba captain Shaquel Bosire eventually supplying it, finishing off a 22-17 win with the kind of composure that bronze medal matches rarely produce.
But if Kisumu had one signature moment, it belonged to Kabras Sugar 7s. A year ago, on this same ground, they’d watched KCB lift the Dala Sevens trophy in front of them. This time, they were the ones behind Menengai Oilers led 0-5 at the break, and for a half, it looked like history was going to repeat itself in the cruelest possible way.
Then Kabras remembered who they were.
Derrick Ashihundu got them level first. Series MVP Rayvon Ambale still young enough that “prodigy” doesn’t feel like an overstatement scored and converted his own try to put Kabras in front for the first time all match. Fredrick Wangila added a third, Michael Lukusi’s boot made it count, and Kabras closed out a 19-5 win that reclaimed both the Dala trophy and the overall lead on the SportPesa National Sevens Circuit.
“We came too short in Nakuru, losing in the final, but we knew we had it in us to win here and we couldn’t be more pleased,” said a visibly relieved Kabras captain Mathias Osimbo.
Kisumu had its own local hero, too. Mwamba’s women’s side beat fierce rivals Kenya Harlequins 10-7 in the Division One final, courtesy of a try scored with the clock all but expired a result that handed Mwamba Ladies back-to-back titles and KES 100,000, and gave the club a genuine claim to being the story of the weekend across both codes.
SportPesa Head of Public Relations Willis Ojwang summed it up best: “Dala has given us exactly the kind of rugby this circuit was built for physical, unpredictable, and full of statements. Two legs in, the gap between the top teams and the chasing pack is closing, and that competitiveness is exactly what we want heading into Kabeberi and the rest of the circuit.”
Down in the lower divisions, at the Impala Club, Catholic Monks earned promotion to Division 1 with a 20-14 win over Stallions, banking KES 70,000 for the trouble Stallions collected KES 30,000 as runners-up.
Two weeks from now, the circuit reconvenes in Nairobi for the Kabeberi Memorial Sevens, Leg 3 of the season, at the Impala Club on 15–16 August. Kabras will arrive as the team to catch. KCB will arrive with questions to answer.
