Kisii Rugby and Mwamba RFC in previous action/ANGWENYI GICHANA

Catholic Monks head coach Simon Jawichire cut a cautious figure despite his side cementing their place at the top of the KRU Championship standings with a hard-fought 29-22 victory over University of Nairobi Mean Machine.

“We did not execute the game as planned. It seems some players were still in the holiday mood after the festive season break,” Jawichire said after the match. “However, I’m happy with the way they responded in the second half.”

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The hosts led 15-12 at the break, but Catholic Monks regrouped after halftime to overturn the deficit and secure the win on the road. Jawichire was also keen to play down talk of Kenya Cup qualification, insisting lessons from previous campaigns had shaped his cautious approach.

“We have been in this situation before. We topped the table during the regular season but lost in the playoffs. At the moment, we are taking a game at a time,” he noted.

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The result leaves Catholic Monks and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) Cougars as the only unbeaten sides in the league. JKUAT Cougars also maintained their perfect start with a narrow 29-22 win over National Youth Service (NYS) Spades.

Elsewhere, former Kenya Cup sides Kisii Rugby and South Coast Pirates lost their unbeaten runs. Kisii went down 29-28 to Western Bulls, while South Coast Pirates were edged 13-8 by Mombasa in a tightly contested Coast derby at Mombasa Sports Club.

Western Bulls chairman Mike Ligono hailed his team’s resilience after rallying from a 14-3 deficit to secure their first win of the campaign. “The team put in a lot of effort and hard work after going down early,” Ligono said.

“Our main target is to avoid relegation and see if we can reach the playoffs.” In other results, Mwamba Rugby compounded United States International University–Africa (USIU-A) Martials’ struggles with a 22-17 win, handing the students their fourth straight defeat, while former Kenya Cup side Homeboyz beat Zetech University Oaks 22-12.