In reversed roles from last year’s Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) games, Upper Hill will represent Nairobi Region in rugby Sevens while Dagoretti make their debut in the 15s version.
‘Dago’ dethroned East Africa defending champions Upper Hill in the 15s version of the game a weekend ago but the latter got the chance to feature in the national games slated for early April representing the region in Sevens.
After the shock defeat to ‘Dago’ in 15s, the Thomas Walgwe-coached side regrouped to beat 2017 East Africa champions Muhuri Muchiri 17-0 in the finals and book their ticket to Mombasa where they will be chasing their maiden national title in the shorter version of the sport.
Enroute to the finals Upper Hill thrashed Komarock 59-0 in the quarters and Nairobi School 22-0 in the semis, while Muhuri won 28-0 against Sunshine in the quarters and 31-0 against ‘Dago’ in the semis.
Defending
“It takes months to convert, especially because we had trained our focus on defending our 15s title for so long. However, we did not have any options but to give it our all, book the ticket then chart a path to clinching another double in Mombasa and Tanzania,” said Walgwe.
The side takes a weeklong break and resume preparations for the nationals set for April 8-13 at Shimo la Tewa.
“We have to work on our defence in the two weeks we will have before the nationals. It may not be enough time but we will work with what we have,” said Walgwe who says they are looking at representing the country at the East Africa games to be held in Mwanza.
His elder brother Victor Walgwe who guided ‘Dago’ to a fourth place finish on their Sevens debut last year says that they have a different assignment and cannot use their performance in Sevens to gauge how the 15s version will be.
