Coach Kyatwa hopeful Kabras will rise to the occasion in Kenya Cup week three action

Kabras RFC's head coach Carlos Kyatwa has insisted that the team has the potential to do better than their 40-0 victory over Nondies RFC in the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) Kenya Cup match played at the Impala Grounds on Saturday.

The Sugarmen were oozing confidence following their 72-10 victory over Kisumu RFC in their Kenya Cup opener. Nondies on the other hand were seeking redemption after a 45-8 loss to KCB in their first match.

Kabras RFC scored tries thanks to captain George Nyambua and speedster Lamec Ambetsa who was making his first appearance in the season. Ntabeni Dukisa drilled in one conversion to see the Sugarmen take a 19-0 lead at halftime. They came in breathing fire in the second half, to score 21 more points that killed Nondies RFC's dream of securing a win. Captain Nyambua, Griffin Chao, and Collins Indeche added their names to the scoresheet in the closing half.

The win saw Kabras RFC join the Oilers as one of the teams with a perfect record, having secured maximum points from the opening two matches of the season.

“It’s a battle of a mixture of emotions when it comes to this particular game. We started like a house on fire," Kyatwa started.

The tactician who also doubles up as the Kenya Simbas assistant coach also noted that his charges went into the game knowing that Nondies were still newbies to the top-tier, and approached them with a 'soft spot.' Nondies RFC were promoted to the top tier after the concluded 2022/23 season after defeating South Coast Pirates 39-10.

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"We went through our processes very well, also knowing that we were coming against the backdrop of Nondies coming off a loss against KCB. They’ve been hurting from these two very big games for them feel sorry for them," the outspoken Kyatwa offered.

He praised the boys for coming in strong in the opening minutes of the game and playing defensively but was concerned that simple mistakes like handling errors cost them.

"We became complacent after about 20 minutes and then we started to commit silly plays. We were not executing well and handling errors is an area of concern. There was a time you looked at the game and didn’t understand why we did some of the things that we did. At the end of the day, it is five points away from home, 40 points and we didn’t concede so I am very proud of the boys when it comes to defense," the tactician concluded.

The win saw them retain the top-of-the-table position with 10 points. They are separated from KCB Rugby by point difference.

They will be looking to extend their fine run when they welcome Catholic Monks on Saturday 16 at the ASK Kakamega Showground.