Upper Hill School beattraditional giants Lenana School 36-3 in a final played at the St. Mary’s school on Saturday 2 July to lift the prestigious Prescott Cup
after having lost in two finals.
Upper Hill had beaten Mangu 39-5 in the semis. They become the eighth team to win the Prescott cup. The others are Rift Valley Academy (RVA), Lenana School, St. Mary’s, Nairobi School, Alliance High, Mang’u High and Laiser Hill Academy.
The Prescott cup has been contested since 1981 and was for many years, the most prestigious rugby tournament. Historically it featured only 5 or 6 elite schools.
Lenana, also known as "Mean Maroon" were solid in the early stages. The first 11 minutes were scoreless. Then winger Jonathan Madu Madruga finished a flowing move to score the first of six tries. . Fullback Johnstone Olindi converted. .
Madruga was it again, this time with a long sprint and. Olindi converted to send Upper Hill up 14-0.
Lenana's only points came via Blackrock MVP – fly half Arnold Mwita who kicked in a penalty awarded after a contest in the Upper Hill try box.
Then the on form Olindi burst through the Lenana backs to land Upper Hills third try. The fourth try came via Kenya U19 call up – inside centre Maxwell Omondi. Halftime score was 24-3,
Omondi scored again two minutes into the second half when he broke numerous tackles to extend the lead to 29-3. Omondi was picked at the Most Valuable Player of the final.
Lenana who were Champions of 1982, 1993, 2000 and 2001 gave a spirited fight but could not break the Upper Hill defence.
Upper Hill scored again via scrum half Edwin Mwasaru and Olindi converted for a 36-3 score .
Upper Hill coach Victor Walgwe elated
“In the previous finals we lacked mental preparedness but this time we were psychologically prepared as we came to the game with the right mindset,” “Over time we have been checking our boxes and one tick we always wanted to have was the prestigious Prescott Cup. It is a great feeling that we now have it thanks to hard work. We certainly learnt from our previous shortfalls for the win.”
Lenana coach Ojal was pensive after the loss;
“We will pick lessons from it and come back a stronger lot next year,” he said
Upper Hill team captain Phares Mbadi, who missed the game due to an ankle injury also happy
“We had been to two other finals and lost both. We picked vital lessons from both and it is exciting that we are now the Prescott Champions,”
The world of Prescott cup rugby has changed dramatically as reflected by Upper Old boy Kenya Rugby Union Director John Kilonzo
“Back in our days we could never compete in rugby as we were worlds apart with the established schools like Nairobi School, Lenana, RVA and St. Mary’s. I am proud with what the boys have done today in joining the league of Prescott Cup. It excites me as much as it excites them,” said Kilonzo who heads the Disciplinary & Bye-Laws docket at KRU img-0334-1.JPG Upper Hill first made the final in 2012 only to go down 24-3 to a Nelson Mandela inspired Wazimba of Mang'u High who made it three straight wins. They were back in the final in 2015 where they went down 18-14 to Alliance High School.
Upper Hill had beaten Mangu 39-5 in the semis. They become the eighth team to win the Prescott cup. The others are Rift Valley Academy (RVA), Lenana School, St. Mary’s, Nairobi School, Alliance High, Mang’u High and Laiser Hill Academy.
The Prescott cup has been contested since 1981 and was for many years, the most prestigious rugby tournament. Historically it featured only 5 or 6 elite schools.
Lenana, also known as "Mean Maroon" were solid in the early stages. The first 11 minutes were scoreless. Then winger Jonathan Madu Madruga finished a flowing move to score the first of six tries. . Fullback Johnstone Olindi converted. .
Madruga was it again, this time with a long sprint and. Olindi converted to send Upper Hill up 14-0.
Lenana's only points came via Blackrock MVP – fly half Arnold Mwita who kicked in a penalty awarded after a contest in the Upper Hill try box.
Then the on form Olindi burst through the Lenana backs to land Upper Hills third try. The fourth try came via Kenya U19 call up – inside centre Maxwell Omondi. Halftime score was 24-3,
Omondi scored again two minutes into the second half when he broke numerous tackles to extend the lead to 29-3. Omondi was picked at the Most Valuable Player of the final.
Lenana who were Champions of 1982, 1993, 2000 and 2001 gave a spirited fight but could not break the Upper Hill defence.
Upper Hill scored again via scrum half Edwin Mwasaru and Olindi converted for a 36-3 score .
Upper Hill coach Victor Walgwe elated
“In the previous finals we lacked mental preparedness but this time we were psychologically prepared as we came to the game with the right mindset,” “Over time we have been checking our boxes and one tick we always wanted to have was the prestigious Prescott Cup. It is a great feeling that we now have it thanks to hard work. We certainly learnt from our previous shortfalls for the win.”
Lenana coach Ojal was pensive after the loss;
“We will pick lessons from it and come back a stronger lot next year,” he said
Upper Hill team captain Phares Mbadi, who missed the game due to an ankle injury also happy
“We had been to two other finals and lost both. We picked vital lessons from both and it is exciting that we are now the Prescott Champions,”
The world of Prescott cup rugby has changed dramatically as reflected by Upper Old boy Kenya Rugby Union Director John Kilonzo
“Back in our days we could never compete in rugby as we were worlds apart with the established schools like Nairobi School, Lenana, RVA and St. Mary’s. I am proud with what the boys have done today in joining the league of Prescott Cup. It excites me as much as it excites them,” said Kilonzo who heads the Disciplinary & Bye-Laws docket at KRU img-0334-1.JPG Upper Hill first made the final in 2012 only to go down 24-3 to a Nelson Mandela inspired Wazimba of Mang'u High who made it three straight wins. They were back in the final in 2015 where they went down 18-14 to Alliance High School.