The Tanzania Twigas, one of two new franchises in this year’s Bamburi Rugby Super Series, are promising to bounce back after losing handedly to a well-drilled Nairobi Lions squad this past Saturday at Arusha’s Friedkin Recreational Centre. Swooping into Tanzania for the first time, the popular Kenyan tournament will stage its next match in Arusha on Good Friday, 21 March, when the Twigas host the Kisumu Cheetahs. Precision Air and Tanzania Breweries sponsor the local side.
The Lions scored eleven times to kick off their Bamburi campaign in style. Curtis Olago started the try rush in the fifth minute. The national seven-a-side forward, whose three put-ins demolished England at the fourth leg of the IRB Sevens Series in San Diego recently, crossed the line again in the eleventh minute for 14-0 lead.
Ronnie Mwenesi added the third try for Lions in the seventeenth minute before Tanzania put the brakes on for a while. But the Twigas succumbed to the much more experienced Lions pack, whose eighth man Roger Lai barged over in the twenty-eighth and thirty-sixth minutes, taking a 31-0 lead into half time.
On resumption, Lai was yellow-carded by Kenyan referee Johnbosco Muamba after only two minutes of play. The Twigas then made their first substitution when coach Tinus Aucamp introduced John Kraft for Boaz Magege. This appeared to steady Tanzanian forwards, who absorbed pressure from the Lions for the next nine minutes before Mshila went over to stretch the lead to 36-0.
Muamba then reached for his card and surprisingly sent the two captains, Paul Murunga and Mike Beckner, to the sin bin. Kinyany, Jotham Yahuma, Mshila, Kinyany and Mwanja completed the rout, closing out the score at 65-0.
Twiga coach Tinus Aucamp was candid in his post-game assessment. “We were outplayed in all aspects of the game. It was the first time this season that we ran together as a team, and it will always be difficult to perform against a well-trained squad which has clearly worked together for a while.
We also made many unforced mistakes, and the Lions’ pack put us under pressure. Our backline received the ball on their back feet. The Kenyans gave a clinical display of fast-running rugby and good support play.”
The coach is in Dar es Salaam this week to conduct intense training sessions with players based in the political capital. “We knew from the start it would be difficult, seeing as Kenya club sides are the strongest in East Africa. Losing wasn’t really a surprise, but we expected to give them a good run for their money. Obviously we’re disappointed that we didn’t manage to get some points on the board.” Aucamp added.
Bill Githinji, his opposite number, commented that the Twigas were quite a good side that gave as much as they got. “Perhaps the biggest let down was that they had not trained together enough before the game. The only remedy is to put more effort into building team cohesion by playing together more. They have a very good scrum-half (Mike Beckner), fly-half (Cameron McHale) and centre (Craig Middleton). Also, their number five (John Lloyd) and eight-man (Daniel Moore) were quite authoritative in the forwards. If only they could get their act together! Our aim was just to try out the combinations. We had a young fly-half, Haroun Lubisia, and fielded some players out of position. Andrew Amonde played at wing instead of centre or flanker. There is a possibility we will miss Amonde and Dennis Mwanja next week but we have the firepower,” Githinji said.
Tanzania Rugby Union president John Kraft praised the visitors after the match. “Congratulations to the Lions. They beat us soundly, and were excellent ambassadors, gentlemen and brothers both on and off the pitch. Four of their squad members, those who put in most of their tries, just played IRB Sevens in the United States. This doesn’t excuse our effort, but it does mean we’re competing against world-class players. One of TRU’s main reasons for joining BRSS was to face a higher level of competition. The Lions certainly provided that on Saturday. It may take us a few more matches to absorb the lessons we are being taught, but we will improve this month. And several of our senior members proved on Saturday that they could start for any of the six franchises in this tournament,” Kraft added.
Last year’s Kenya and Enterprise Cup champions Kenya Commercial Bank, which has many representatives on the Lions’ squad, has invited the Twigas to set up a friendly series, in preparation for Tanzania’s Confederation of African Rugby Castel Trophy campaign later this season. “We really want to continue developing our relationship with the Kenya Rugby Football Union. Our players can only benefit from exposure to their quality and spirit,” the president concluded.
Result
Final: Nairobi Lions 65, Tanzania Twigas 0
Half-time: 31-0
Lions
Tries: Curtis Olago, Dennis Mwanja (2) Ronnie Mwenesi, Rogers Lai (2), Mark Mshila (2), Jotham Yahuma, and Richard Kinyany (2).
Conversions: Peter Mutai, Mark Mshila (4)
Tanzania Twigas Squad
15 Simon Hall, 14 Aart Koster, 13 Kelvin Vitalis, 12 Craig Middleton, 11 Jeff Lwila, 10 Cameron McHale (Vincent Onkendi), 9 Mike Beckner (captain), 1 Juma Kittyler, 2 Chris Hatty, 3 Boaz Magege (John Kraft), 4 Jeremy Stephenson, 5 John Lloyd (vice captain), 6 Lane Simonson, 7 Ncedo Ludada (Denis Ngemela), 8 Daniel Moore. Replacements: 16 John Kraft, 17 Isaac Foya, 18 Denis Ngemela, 19 Mathew Mmbando, 20 Vincent Onkendi, 21 Gustav Mphusu, 22 Jackson Kassim. Coach: Tinus Aucamp.
Nairobi Lions Squad
15 Mark Mshila, 14 Andrew Amonde, 13 Dennis Mwanja, 12 Curtis Olago, 11 Richard Kinyany, 10 Haroun Lubisia, 9 Peter Mutai, 1 Franklin Amiani, 2 Edwin Alubaka, 3 Arthur Shikwe, 4 Ronnie Mwenesi, 5 Paul Murunga (captain), 6 Anthony Ogot, 7 Anthony Ochino, 8 Rogers Lai. Replacements: 16 Edward Opio, 17 Ronald Njoga, 18 Philip Wamae, 19 Xavier Makuba, 20 Mathew Musita, 21 Jotham Yahuma, 22 Silas Amunga. Coach: Bill Githinji.
Match Officials
Referee: Johnbosco Muamba (Kenya), TJ1 Paul Kilonzo (Kenya), TJ2 Thad Patterson (Tanzania); Match Commissioner: Peter Trevor (Tanzania).