They say when a dog bites a man, there is nothing new to report on. But when a man bites a dog, then everything should come to a standstill.
In the first leg of the Elgon Cup 2024, there was nothing too new to bring the world to a halt as the men’s national rugby 15s side Kenya Simbas once again claimed the bragging rights over rivals Uganda after recording a narrow 27-25 win in the match held at the RFUEA Grounds on Saturday evening.
In what was the first Elgon Cup match being played in Nairobi since 2018, a brace from Brian Waihinya and efforts from debutant Griffin Chao and Jeanson Misoga saw the Jerome Paarwater-coached side emerge victorious in a game that Simbas had to show character to overturn a 12-14 deficit at the half time break.
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The Simbas started strongly and took the lead inside six minutes with Kabras Sugar winger Chao touching down at the corner for his first try in the national team on debut.
It all started with some clever awareness by Wahinya who turned the point of attack from a ruck before offloading to Barry Robinson who found Chao in acres of space at the corner, Timothy Omela’s conversion attempt was unsuccessful.
Uganda then settled in the game and forced two penalties out of the Simbas but Robin Philip Odrua failed to nail any of the two conversion.
Joseph Aredo assumed kicking duties when Uganda once again got a third penalty but still, there was nothing doing as Kenya held onto their 5-0 lead.
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Misoga managed to extend Kenya’s lead in the 28th minute following a powerful maul with Omela nailing the conversion to take the scored to 12-0.
Five minutes later, Misoga went from scoring to receiving a yellow card which came at a cost as the Ugandans managed to score from the resulting scrum as Pius Ogena wriggled his way past the onrushing Walter Okoth before touching down as Shakim Ssembusi converted to reduce the deficit to 12-7.
One would soon turn to two for Uganda as Aaron Ofwoyrwoth delayed his pass just until the right moment for Thomas Gwokto who sliced through the Kenyan defense before touching down just under the posts, Shakim converting to hand his side a 12-14 lead at the break.
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In the second half, Shakim converted a penalty, giving Uganda a 12-17 lead but Kenya retaliated with two powerful mauls, and from the second, Wahinya rose off a ruck to score.
Okwemba added a conversion from a difficult angle, putting Kenya back in front at 19-17.
That effort pumped some wind into Kenya’s sails with Wahinya showing his brilliant footwork as he side-stepped his marker before landing his brace.
Uganda again fought back with a corner try by Odrua to reduce the deficit to 24-22.
Jone Kubu then came off the bench to make his first appearance after exactly one year due to injury, adding three points that took Kenya’s lead to 27-22.
Despite converting another penalty to reduce the deficit to only two points, Kenya managed to hold on for the 27-25 win.
The Simbas take a narrow lead into the second leg which will be held in Kampala, Uganda on November 16.
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