The inaugural Kitaka 10s tournament could have been organised and marketed better. Only a handful of fans turned up for the two days at Legends Rugby Grounds and the teams – twelve that participated out of the invited sixteen men’s teams and five women’s teams – barely had time to assemble their best squads.
However, some good rugby was played and the best performers were recognised and rewarded for their efforts.
Here is the list of the winners from both the men’s and women’s competitions:
Cup Winners:
- Women’s Cup Winners: Black Pearls
- Men’s Cup Winners: Kenya Nondescripts (Nondies)
- Men’s Challenge Cup Winners: Boks
Black Pearls won the women’s round-robin tournament while Nondies beat Black Pirates, 05-00, in the men’s Cup Final. Boks displayed the most resilient performance of the entire tournament when they held off Buffaloes in the men’s Challenge Cup.
see the Kenya nondies team that conquered kampala
Most Valuable Players (MVP):
- Women’s MVP: Emilly Lekuru (Black Pearls)
- Men’s MVP: Calvin Sheunda (Nondies)
Black Pearls’ captain Emilly Lekuru will need a room dedicated to her personal trophies after adding the Kitaka 10s women’s MVP award to her collection. Nondies’ Sheunda was the men’s MVP inspiring the touring Kenyans to a sweep of the men’s competition.
Top Try Scorers:
- Women’s Top Try Scorer: Emilly Lekuru (Black Pearls) – 8 tries
- Men’s Top Try Scorer: Alex Aturinda (Black Pirates) – 7 tries
Lekuru also bagged the women’s top try scorer’s award after scoring eight tries in four matches. Kings Park counterpart Alex Aturinda of Black Pirates won the men’s award with seven tries in six matches.
