Top Fry oozes confidence ahead of Prinsloo Sevens in Nakuru

Top Fry Nakuru is oozing confidence ahead of the National Sevens Circuit that kicks off with the famous Prinsloo Sevens in Nakuru this Friday.

Hosts Nakuru, coached by former Kenya Sevens and Strathmore Leos coach, Mitch Ocholla, open their campaign in Pool ‘D’ of the three-day event.

And ahead of the three-day challenge, Ocholla, a former player turned coach is determined to make a flying start by winning the Prinsloo title.

He believes that with the home support, he can claim the title after narrowly missing out last year when they were defeated by Kenya Commercial Bank in the finals.

“What matters most for us for now is consistency and team work in the playing unit in all the upcoming legs of the tournament .When we have that we will challenge for a podium finish and eventually capture the overall title,” Ocholla told Citizen Digital in an interview, espousing that his troops will be equal to the task with barely two days left to the kick-off.

Nakuru are pooled alongside Prinsloo defending champions Kenya Commercial Bank, Nondescripts RFC and Nzoia Sugar Webuye.

“Going to this curtain raiser of the local circuit we are taking every team to seriously.It also gives us a perfect opportunity to gauge ourselves and our capability and that of our opponents ahead of the subsequent legs of the tournament,” he said.

He went on: “A win for us in this opener will be a morale booster for my side as we prepare to improve on our last year’s performance when we finished fifth.”

At the same time, Ocholla has challenged teams to raise the tempo of the competition by making it tight and unpredictable; diffusing the notion and trend of one team dominating the show.

This year’s tournament has attracted Sh3.5 million sponsorships with Stanbic Babk pumping in Sh1million, Menengai Oil Refineries Limited (Sh2million) and Soko Ugali (Sh350, 000) among others.

Teams will accumulate points in the circuit based on performance in the six tournaments lined up for six towns across the country.

In the Division Two Championships, Catholic Monks are top seeds and are in Pool ‘A’ with Citam Kisumu and newcomers and invitee Bomet.

Makueni RFC is in Pool ‘B’ with Embu RFC, Nakuru KITI and Administration Police while Pool ‘C’ has Daystar Falcons, Egerton Wasps, Technical University of Kenya (TUK) and Molo RFC.

Kisii RFC is in Pool D alongside Kiambu, KCAA Stormers and former Kenya Cup side Bungoma RFC while Pool ‘E’ has Mount Kenya University, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST), United States International University (USIU) and Mbale RFC with Pool F consisting of KCA University, Comras, Eldoret and Ngong RFC.

Division 1 Pools

Pool A: Kabras Sugar, Strathmore Leos, Stanbic Mwamba, Mean Machine.

Pool B: Menengai Cream Homeboyz, Kenya Harlequin, Blak Blad, Silverstone Kisumu.

Pool C: Resolution Impala Saracens, Menengai Oilers, Western Bulls, Regional Logistics Mombasa.

Pool D: KCB, Top Fry Nakuru, Nondescripts, Nzoia Sugar Webuye.

National Sevens Circuit Venues & Dates

Nakuru: Prinsloo Sevens:  21st /22nd July – Nakuru Athletic Club

Eldoret:  Sepetuka Sevens:   28th/29th July – Eldoret Sports Club

Machakos:  Kabeberi Sevens:  18th/19th August – Kenyatta Stadium

Mombasa:  Driftwood Sevens:  25th/26th August – Mombasa Sports Club

Kisumu:  Dala Sevens:  8th/9th September – Mamboleo Showground

Nairobi:  Christie Sevens:  15th/16th September – RFUEA Ground