Mwamba Women RFC head coach Joseph Babu has lauded his charges for beginning their Women’s Kenya Cup title defense with a win against archrivals Impala ladies 21-7.
Babu says despite lack of proper match fitness heading to the match owing to constant postponement of the start of the league, the ladies put on a gutsy performance to garner maximum points.
“The win against Impala was good; of course, we enjoyed the win, but in terms of the general performance, we didn’t play the best rugby.
“We have young players who came in and showed that despite your age, you’re young, you will still make it in Mwamba.”
Babu noted the team was missing key players who were in the national team Lionesses but was optimistic they would inject some much-needed energy into the team heading into match day two.
“If the national team, the Lionesses, perform well, club level rugby also improves.
“So, I feel if the national team has an assignment that these players should focus on, they should be left out because it helps us in growing more local talent; so that there is depth to choose from.
“Of course, it’s an advantage to other teams like Impala because when you have more players in the national team, you don’t get to field them so you become weak, locally but you look at the bigger picture.
“Yes, we can compete for the local trophies and everything but what of the national team? If our national side doesn’t compete, automatically our local set up also dies.”
Elsewhere in other Women’s Kenya cup matches, Northern Suburbs defeated Nakuru ladies 12-7 as Rongo University ran out 27-14 winners against Maseno University.
Shamberere got free points after Western Spears handed over a walkover in their opening fixture of the Kenya Cup season.
