Champions Rift Valley Academy (RVA) are among 24 teams set for the 38th edition of the Blackrock rugby tournament scheduled for Saturday at St Mary’s School, Nairobi.
RVA edged out Strathmore 21-14 to seal the ninth title last year as the school’s most popular tournament returned after two years break owing to Covid-19.
The tournament featured the seven-a-side version for the first time last year instead of the traditional 15s game.
Tournament coordinator Gregory Sang indicated that this year’s tournament will feature a 10-a-side version before returning to the old version next year.
Besides RVA and Strathmore, the 2008 champions, hosts St Mary’s School that is the most successful team in the event with 10 titles and Prescott Cup champions, Ofafa Jericho High School are the other teams for the one-day competition.
St Mary’s School won the championship last in 2011 while Ofafa, who are also the Nairobi County Secondary Schools rugby 15s champions, won it for the first and last time in 2018.
Other rugby giants who will take part in the festival are four times champions Lenana, 2009 champions Upper Hill School, 2019 winners Dagoretti, and Alliance.
Sang said that among the sponsors of the event are Nairobi Sports House who have donated some trophies, medals and balls to be used, and Coca Cola who will give refreshments.
Sang said the teams will be drawn in eight pools of four teams each where some have provided two teams.
They will play round-robin with the top teams from each pool proceeding to the cup quarter-finals while those finishing second will play in plate quarter-finals. Third placed teams will square it out in the bowl quarter-finals.
It is at the Blackrock festival that Kenya’s future rugby stars are identified, nurtured and given the platform to shine.
The Most Valuable Players from this festival have gone on to achieve greatness in the game.
For instance, Allan Hicks, who at the age of 19, played for the Kenya Sevens at the Rugby World Cup Sevens held in Argentina in 2001 and Innocent Simiyu, who captained both Kenya 15s and Kenya Sevens, and went on to serve as Kenya Sevens head coach twice.
Other players are Ugandan international Philip Wokorach and Paul Odera, the former Kenya Simbas head coach.
The tournament has also contributed to great growth of teams for instance the 2022 Plate winners, All Saints School from Embu, took part in this year’s Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association rugby 15s championships for the first time, emerging second. They will also take part in the 2023 Blackrock tournament.
Confirmed entries
Ofafa I, Strathmore I, Lenana I, Rift Valley Academy (RVA) I, Rosslyn Academy, Thika High School, Upper Hill, Sunshine Secondary School, All Saints-Embu, Aquinas, Alliance, Dagorreti, RVA II, Ofafa II, Strathmore II, Lenana II, Pioneer Maragua, St. Mary’s, Light Academy, All Saints II- Embu, Kitondo School, Langata High School, Kabete Vet Lab Secondary School.
