NAIROBI, Kenya, November 9 – The national men’s rugby 15s side beat Uganda 27-25 in the first leg of the Elgon Cup at the RFUEA Grounds in Nairobi on Saturday.
Debutant Griffin Chao put the Simbas in the lead in the fifth minute although Timothy Omela was unsuccessful with the conversion.
Jeanson Misoga extended the deficit with the second try of the game soon after.
The Cranes responded with a try of their own, Pius Ogena going over the white chalk as Shakim Ssembusi converted between the posts for the extras.
Innocent Gwokto’s try at the stroke of halftime — converted successfully by Ssembusi — saw the Ugandans go into the break with a 14-12 lead.
Kenya came back into the second as wounded lions and their pressure in their opponent’s 22 finally paid off in the 50th minute courtesy of Brian Wahinya’s try.
Up stepped Omela who then atoned for his earlier misses with a successful conversion for a 19-14 lead.
The Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) half-back then got the capacity crowd at RFUEA on its feet with his second of the afternoon to extend Simbas’ lead.
Not to be undone though, the Ugandans managed to steady themselves amid strong tides of Kenyan attacks.
Robin Odrua, making his maiden appearance for Cranes, touched down on the right wing in the 55th minute to halve the deficit.
However, Jone Kubu’s penalty, 10 minutes to the end, seemed to put paid to their hopes of a comeback.
Yassin Waswa’s penalty at the death added one more twist to the tale, albeit too little too late.
The two sides meet again on November 16 for the second leg of the cup.
