Kenya Cup preview: Oilers, Impala clash doubtful as match day 4 kicks off

Five fixtures are on the offing in the Kenya Cup this weekend but the clash pitting Menengai Oilers and Impala Saracens is in doubt after a virus outbreak in one of the teams.

Nondescripts vs Strathmore Leos

Nondescripts play their first Kenya Cup after rescinding their decision of not participating this season a week ago.

Leos will have welcomed the much-needed respite last weekend after suffering back to back defeats against Kabras and KCB.

Leos will feel that they have navigated the two trickiest ties and need to start picking up points if they are to feature in the playoffs this season. 

Harlequins vs Kabras

Quins picked up their first win of the season against Impala Saracens last time out after suffering defeats against Menengai Oilers and KCB.

The 2012 champions are looking to rotate their squad ahead of the Kabras tie with head coach Antoine Plasman setting his sights on the playoffs.

“We have to manage our games against the big teams. We play Kabras, some players are getting tired and I think I will field a young team just to give them some experience and to see how they adapt against the big team.

“My plan is that we need to have 30 players to be ready for the playoff, if we leave some players out of the team they will never learn,” said Plasman.

Quins will however face a stern test when they take on an unbeaten Kabras Sugar who have already bagged the Sisimka Cup before the start of the season. 

Menengai Oilers vs Impala Scaracens

The game is doubtful with reports indicating that one of the teams had a virus outbreak in their squad as they failed to train this week.

Mitch Ocholla could not confirm nor deny the reports but revealed that they are waiting for confirmation from Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) on the status of the fixture. 

“We are still waiting for official communication against KRU, the match might not be on this Saturday because the teams did little training over the week,” said Mitch Ocholla.

KCB vs Blak Blad

Blad picked up their first of the season against Mwamba RFC last weekend with Archadius Khwesa bagging 11 points in the game.

KCB will however be without six of their crucial players who are with the Kenya Sevens squad as they continue their preparations for the 2020 Olympics. 

The six players include Andrew Amonde, Jacob Ojee, Johnstone Olindi, Levy Amunga Geoffery Okwach and Vincent Onyala. 

KCB Team Manager Phillip Wamae noted that they will approach the game with caution and rued missing their key players.

“We will approach the match with cautions and make sure that the combinations that we have named for the side are going to work for us and make sure we collect maximum points ahead of the side.”

“We have six players who are in the National Team camp in preparation for the olympics, we also have a couple of players who picked up knocks against the Quins encounter. There are players who also need to work on fitness,” said Wamae.

Mwamba vs MMUST

MMUST are seeking their first win of the season after suffering heavy defeats against Kabras and Nakuru RFC.

Mwamba head coach Kevin Wambua is also in pursuit of his first game this season following their opening loss to Blak Blad and will be boosted by the return of Sikuta and Ruhiu.

“Being the second game, I can say we have shaken off the cobwebs, we had not played for a long time and we are meeting MMUST which has played three games so we have to be much more fitter and improve our structures.”

“We do not have any injury concerns, we are going to have Stephen Sikuta and Patrick Ruhiu back in the squad which is a very big boost for us,” said Wambua.