Champions Kenya Simbas touched down five tries to beat hosts Uganda Cranes 34-16 in the first leg of the Elgon Cup at Legends Rugby Club in Kampala on Saturday.

The return leg fixture will be played on July 7 in Nairobi. The a match will also count towards the Africa Gold Cup ranking and will also double up as a qualifier for the 2019 World Cup to be held in Japan.

Winger Jacob Ojee, second-row Oliver Mang’eni, centre Leo Seje, flanker Elkeans Musonye and fly-half Biko Adema scored a try each to propel Simbas to victory. Full-back Darwin Mukidza cushioned Kenya’s victory with three conversions and a penalty.

Cranes, who trailed 24-9 at the break, managed a converted try and three penalties. 

It's Ojee who put Simbas ahead with a try that Mukidza converted but kicker Ivan Magomu reduced the deficit for Cranes with a penalty before Mukidza curled over a similar one to stretch the lead 10-3.

Mang’eni and Seje crossed the line for tries that Mukidza converted to put Simbas ahead 24-3 before Magomu’s penalty put things at 24-6. Kenya’s prop was sin-binned for infringement and Magomu would score his third penalty as a result. Cranes trailed 24-9 at the break.

Musonye then scored a try but Mukidza missed the extras for a 29-9 lead as Simbas head coach Ian Snook brought in Xavier Bett and Malcom Onsando for scrum-half Onsomu and second-row Andrew Chogo.

Cranes finally mauled from a line-out for their only try of the match. Full-back Philip Wokorach made the conversion but Kenya Simbas roared back, with Adema diving over for the team’s last try.

Last year, Simbas drew 33-33 with Cranes in Nairobi but retained the Elgon Cup title with a 56-51 aggregate win after they won the first leg 23-18 in Kampala.

GOOD START

It was a good start for Snook and his deputy Murray Roulston as they turn their focus to the World Cup qualifiers. The Simbas start their campaign away to Morocco on June 23 before hosting Zimbabwe and Uganda on June 30 and July 7 respectively.

The Simbas will then host Tunisia on August 11, and will wind up their campaign for a place in the World Cup away against Gold Cup holders Namibia on August 18.

Simbas team manager Wangila Simiyu praised his charges for putting in a good performance but said there is still a lot of work to be done in the team.

“The training we had in Nanyuki last weekend helped a great deal and we need to keep up the pace,” said Wangila, adding that the team needs to improve in all departments since the World Cup qualifiers will be a different ball game.

“We slowed down in the second half of the match and let Cranes dominate but we can understand the boys were also under pressure to deliver,” said Wangila, who thanked the hundreds of fans who came to support the Simbas.

Wangila said Kenya may travel to Cape Town for a training camp from June 6-16. The team needs more than Sh8 million for the trip. “Even though we have tickets from the government, we want  more sponsors to come on board," said Wangila.