SCHOOL: St Joseph Girls Kitale rugby sevens qualify for East Africa games in Uganda

St Joseph Girls rugby players in action against Mbakalo Girls during National Secondary school games at Kisii School.[Sammy Omingo, Standard]

Rift Valley rugby powerhouse St Joseph Girls Kitale are through to the 2024 East Africa School games set to be played in Uganda later this month.

Commonly referred to as JOGA, the Trans Nzoia County heavyweights saw off Coast region’s Paul Harris 14-5 in the quarterfinals played at Kisii School on Tuesday to make it to the semis.

Four schools are guaranteed a spot to play in this year’s FEASSSA games set for Mbale in Uganda set for August 16-27 and thus St Joseph Girls qualifying with two matches to spare.

JOGA will be joined by little-known Nyagichenche from Kisii County in Uganda alongside St Teresas Girls from Eastern and Kinale from Central Region.

Nyagichenche stunned Kisumu giants Nyakach Girls 10-5 in the quarters which was a repeat of the Nyanza Region final that Nyakach had won last month at Cardinal Otunga.

Dennis Onyango, Nyagichenche head coach said after the win the result reflected the fruits of hard work, discipline, belief and courage that the young girls have been putting since the beginning of the year.

“Amazing! These girls have shown me that all it takes is belief and hard work. To achieve what we have in our first year at rugby is very encouraging and inspirational and we now believe we can get a podium finish to cap these amazing display by the girls,” said Onyango.

St Teresas knocked out Shimba Hills 10-0 while Kinale stunned Madira Girls 14-12.

The semifinals will be played on Wednesday.