‘Fatigued’ Kitale RFC eye final upset at MMUST

Kitale RFC coach Ben Amboko insisted their constant travels for away fixtures has had a detrimental effect on his side ahead of their play-off final against Masinde Muliro University.

Kitale face yet another away trip as they visit Masinde Muliro in Kakamega where the outright Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) Nationwide champion will be decided on Saturday.

His fatigued side are underdogs having finished behind their Varsity opponents during the regular season but the tactician believes they can pull an upset.

“Nobody thought Kitale was going to qualify for the Championship league but we made it and I can assure our ‘special’ strategy come Saturday will eventually work in our favour,” a bullish Amboko told Citizen Digital.

Both finalists qualified for the second-tier final last weekend having won their respective regional nationwide semi-final fixtures.

Kitale defeated Swara RFC 12-8 at Impala Club with MMUST seeing off former Kenya Cup side Eldoret RFC 30-5 in Kakamega.

Amboko who also serves as the club’s player coach as well as team driver admitted their fitness levels had dropped but urged his players to dig into their tanks one last time as they seek the Championship honours.

“We need to fix our fitness levels. I get a feeling the last 30 minutes of the final will be the deciding factor due to the speed of the game in the second quarter. In contrast to the semis, tempos hardly drop in the finals.

Bonfota Alumasa will take charge of the game as the centre referee and will be assisted by Noreen Liyosi and Kelvin Ndirangu.