Kenya Cup
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The Kenya Cup is the top tier club rugby union competition in Kenya organized by the Kenya Rugby Union. For the 2019-2020 season, twelve teams are divided into two pools of six, Each team plays home and away against each team in its pool and once against each team in the other pool. The top six teams in the single-table format qualify for the playoff finals: the top two teams secure a home semi-final. The other four teams are paired into two knock-out games: the winners of the two games each play one of the two top-ranked teams (that had secured an automatic semi-final berth). The winners of the two semi-final fixtures play in the final to determine the overall winner(the top-ranked team before the playoffs hosts the final).
Promotion and relegation exists between the Kenya Cup, Championship and Nationwide leagues. The two lowest placed teams in the Kenya Cup are relegated to the Championship, and the top two teams in the Championship are promoted to the Kenya Cup. Games are played on Saturday afternoons usually preceded by corresponding fixtures in the Eric Shirley Shield.
The Kenya Cup was founded in 1970 by the newly formed Kenya Rugby Football Union with the first tournament won by Impala RFC.
KCB RFC retained the Kenya Cup for a third successive time after a 23-15 victory over Kabras Sugar in the final contested on 18 May 2019 at the Kakamega Showgrounds.
2021 Kenya Cup teams
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya Harlequin F.C. | Nairobi | RFUEA Ground | 6,000 |
| Menengai Oilers | Nakuru City | Nakuru Showgrounds | 6,000 |
| Blak Blad RFC | Nairobi City | Kenyatta University Grounds | 5,000 |
| Kabras Sugar RFC | Kakamega City | Bull Ring Kakamega | 5,000 |
| Nondescripts RFC | Nairobi | Ngong Race Course | 5,000 |
| Impala Saracens | Nairobi City | Impala Ground | 2,000 |
| KCB RFC | Nairobi | The Den | 2,000 |
| Mwamba RFC | Nairobi | Nairobi Railways Club | 2,000 |
| Top Fry Nakuru RFC | Nakuru | Nakuru Athletic Club | 2,000 |
| MMUST RFC | Kakamega City | MMUST Grounds | 1,000 |
| Strathmore Leos | Nairobi | Strathmore University Grounds | 1,000 |
2021 Kenya Cup Final Standings
These are the final standings of the Kenya Cup.
| Club | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Bonus Points | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 Kenya Cup Table viewtalkedit | ||||||||||
| 2021 Kenya Cup Table | viewtalkedit | |||||||||
| 1 | Kabras Sugar RU | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 401 | 81 | 320 | 9 | 49 |
| 2 | KCB CH | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 313 | 149 | 164 | 8 | 44 |
| 3 | Menengari Oliers SF | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 215 | 184 | 28 | 4 | 30 |
| 4 | Strathmore Leos SF | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 227 | 186 | 41 | 7 | 27 |
| 5 | Kenya Harlequin | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 219 | 232 | -13 | 5 | 25 |
| 6 | MMUST | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 151 | 204 | -53 | 2 | 20 |
| 7 | Nondescripts | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 132 | 180 | -48 | -1 | 17 |
| 8 | Impala Saracens | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 144 | 210 | -66 | 1 | 17 |
| 9 | Mwamba | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 108 | 225 | -117 | 4 | 13 |
| 10 | Top Fry Nakuru | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 148 | 266 | -118 | 2 | 10 |
| 11 | Blak Blad | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 111 | 252 | -141 | 1 | 9 |
| Green background (rows 1 to 4) are play-off places and earns a berth in the Semi-Finals of the competition. Red background (row 11) Relegation to Kenya Nationwide League. (CH) Champions. (RU) Runners-up. (SF) Losing semi-finalists. Final Standings — source: | ||||||||||
| Tiebreakers for teams tied on points: 1) Number of matches won; 2) Difference between points for and against; 3) Total number of points for; 4) Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams; 5) Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled |
Champions
The previous champions of the Kenya Cup are:
a. ^ This webpage states that Harlequins had also had "Previous Kenya Cup victories: 1955, 1957, 1964, 1988". This is probably incorrect as these are years that Harlequins won the Enterprise Cup.The Kenya Cup was inaugurated in 1970. Before 1970 the competition which was held was called the Nairobi District Championship. However the 1995 victory seems likely as it is included in a list that also shows the Enterprise Cup win that year.
Titles by team
| Team | Titles | Years won |
|---|---|---|
| Nondescripts RFC | 17 | 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998 |
| Impala RFC | 10 | 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2009 |
| KCB RFC | 8 | 2005, 2006, 2007, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 |
| Kenya Harlequin | 8 | 1995, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012 |
| Kabras Sugar | 5 | 2016, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 |
| Mean Machine RFC | 3 | 1977, 1989, 1990 |
| Nakuru RFC | 2 | 2013, 2014 |
| Mwamba RFC | 1 | 1983 |
| Barclays Bank RFC | 1 | 1987 |