KRU Championship, which Kenya’s second tier has seen several teams put up impressive performances in the chase for a place in the top tier- Kenya Cup.
Scrummage takes a look at the sides that hold the longest winning runs in the last three regular seasons of the league.
Strathmore Leos – 16
Strathmore Leos had a successful campaign in the second tier. The Louis Kisia coached side managed to win all their matches in the 2019/20 season. Their debut in the championship saw them beat fellow newbies Northern Suburbs 32-7. A narrow win over Machine would follow a week later.
The Students fine form saw them end the season on top of the log with their final match being a 40-20 win in Ukunda against South Coast Pirates. They picked 76 out of the possible 80.
Strathmore Leos winning streak in 2019/20 season
32-7 Suburbs
17-16 Machine
40-10 CUEA
26-14 Mombasa
57-0 Pirates
38-3 USIU
19-10 MMUST
28-0 Kisii W/O
52-13 UoE
36-7 Egerton
36-17 Eldoret
22-0 Suburbs
16-8 Machine
33-15 Monks
79-12 Mombasa
40-20 Pirates— Scrummage.co.ke (@ScrummageKe) March 23, 2020
MMUST/ Oilers 9
MMUST who finished second behind Strathmore Leos in the 2018/19 season went on a nine-match winning streak to finish second. The streak started immediately after their lone loss of the season which came against Strathmore at home. The winning period runs from 14th December to 29th February when they beat UoE Trojans 7-6 to end the season with 67 points.
@MMUSTRUGBY winning streak in the 2019/20 season
Suburbs 12-26 MMUST
MMUST 51-9 Pirates
Mombasa 3- 33 MMUST
MMUST 25-8 Monks
MMUST 41-0 Wasps
USIU 18-19 MMUST
Eldoret 0-5 MMUST
MMUST 38-5 Kisii
UoE 6-7 MMUST— Scrummage.co.ke (@ScrummageKe) March 23, 2020
Menengai Oilers also enjoyed the same run in the 2017/18 season. Gibson Weru charges began their campaign impressively and they went on a winning run which ended on 24 February 2018, losing 31-28 to Western Bulls at the Bull Ring.
Oilers winning streak in the Championship 2017/18 season
30-7 UoE
65-7 Moi
26-17 Kisumu
32-10 Egerton
28-8 Bulls
26-0 UoE
27-5 Moi
20-0 Kisumu
19-8 Egerton— Scrummage.co.ke (@ScrummageKe) March 23, 2020
Machine -8
Mean Machine also enjoyed a fine run in the 2017/18 season. They collected wins against Catholic Monks (double), South Coast Pirates ((double), Ngong (double), USIU and JKUAT but their run ended on matchday nine when they lost 19-12 to USIU.
Bulls/MMUST/Machine/USIU- 6
Four sides have been able to pick six straight wins in the last three season. Western Bulls achieved the feat in 2018/19 season. They picked wins from 19 January to 2 March 2019. In that period they defeated Mombasa, Ngong, Pirates, Egerton Wasps, USIU and MMUST.
Machine, on the other hand, went on another winning run in the 2017/18. After USIU ended their eight-match winning streak, they went on another fine run which was ended by Bulls in a rescheduled fixture played after the regular season.
USIU managed a six-match winning run in 2018/19. They commenced their campaign with a 15-6 win over Egerton Wasps. The Martials maintained the fine run till 19 January 2019 when the streak came to an end in Eldoret. The students were beaten by UoE Trojans 8-7.
MMUST six-match winning run was from the start of the 2019/20 regular season and ended on matchday seven following a 19-10 home defeat to Strathmore Leos.
Machine/Oilers/Bulls/USIU 5
Machine’s five-match winning run was in the 2019/20 season. After losing to MMUST at UoN Grounds on matchday six of the season they went to defeat Kisii, UoE, Eldoret, USIU, Pirates and their run ended on a 1 February 2020Â after they went down to Strathmore Leos 16-8.
Oilers five-match run came later in the 2017/18. After falling to Bulls in the return leg which marked their first-ever defeat in 15s, the Nakuru based side picked themselves to beat Pirates, USIU, Monks, JKUAT and Ngong. Their first home loss was against Mean Machine who handed them a 33-5 beating on the final day of the regular season.
USIU winning run was during the 2018/19, they won the final five matches of the season to reach the Championship semis.
