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Rumble in the forest as Kabras Sugar and KCB battle for Kenya Cup glory

Action between KCB RFC and Nondies on Saturday 23rd March at the KCB Sports Club © Kenya Cup

By Michael Kirwa | 05 Apr 2024

The Women's Kenya Cup and Championship final will also be played on Saturday afternoon

The Kakamega Showgrounds will be the place to be on Saturday 6 April for rugby fans as the curtain closes on the 2023-24 Kenya Cup season with defending champions and final hosts, Kabras Sugar taking on last season’s runners up and 8-time champions KCB Rugby in the 2024 Kenya Cup final from 3PM EAT.

The highly-rated and revered rugby referee Constant Cap will officiate the final while being assisted by Duncan Kioko and Victor Oduor.

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Kabras Sugar and KCB Rugby have dominated the Kenya Cup since Kabras Sugar’s promotion to the top tier of the sport locally in 2015.

Kabras have featured in all nine Kenya Cup finals since their promotion and this will be the 7th time they are meeting KCB at the last hurdle.

The years in which they did not meet KCB in the final culminated in the club winning its first two Kenya Cup titles. In 2016, the Kakamega-based won the Kenya Cup for the first time following a 22-5 victory over Impala.

Then in 2021, they ended a run of four straight final losses with a dramatic 34-28 comeback triumph against the Menengai Oilers.

Those four straight final losses came against KCB Rugby (36-8 in 2017, 29-24 in 2018, 23-15 in 2019, and 28-25 in 2021). Kabras Sugar had previously fallen 27-3 to KCB Rugby in their first Kenya Cup final appearance in 2015.

Kabras Sugar final got their revenge against the bankers in 2023 when they broke that finals hoodoo against them with a 19-9 victory.

Victory on Saturday will see Kabras Sugar not only see them lift the Kenya Cup for the fourth time in their history but also become the fifth team to win the Kenya Cup in three consecutive years with Impala, Kenya Harlequins, KCB Rugby, and Nondescripts having achieved the feat either once or on multiple occasions.

Kabras Sugar are the hot favourites having won all of their 11 regular season matches, including a 14-10 victory over the Saturday opponents when the two teams met in Kakamega on March 9, 2024.

Other fixtures

Also going down on Saturday are two other finals in the Women’s Kenya Cup and the KRU Championship. The former will see Mwamba Women RFC take on Northern Suburbs in a 3 pm kick off at the RFUEA Grounds while the latter will also be a 3 pm contest between newly-promoted Kenya Cup teams, South Coast Pirates and Impala, at the Seacrest Grounds in Diani.