By Gwen Chipasula –
KPF 30 Eagles 0
PROMOTED Kitwe Playing Fields (KPF) whitewashed seasoned campaigners Green Eagles to take an early command of the National Rugby League (NRL) table after Week-One games at the weekend.
Elsewhere, champions Red Arrows started with a famous win over fierce rivals ‘Men At Work’ Diggers to pick up four points and trail KPF by a point as former winners ‘Powerhouse’ Lusaka tumbled to a 3-0 defeat to Nkwazi.
Terry Kayumba propelled KPF win after notching in four tries with Paston Kasonde adding a brace of tries as Kaluba Chilundami scored one from which Fines Chikumbe made two conversions.
Chikumbe went on to score a penalty and a drop-goal as KPF made a serious statement of intent concerning their desire to challenge for the NRL title.
Arrows 21 Diggers 0
Arrows showed they will be the team to beat this season after silencing the noisy Kitwe side in a double-header match played at the Yotam Muleya Grounds.
Emmanuel Daka, Nigel Chibwe and Sydney Mwansapa scored a try each as Terry Kaushiku made the conversion as Diggers woes from last season seem to still be tormenting the undisputed Zambian rugby kings.
Nkwazi 3 Lusaka 0
In the earlier kickoff played at the Yotam Muleya Grounds, last season runners-up Nkwazi picked up maximum points off ‘Powerhouse’ Lusaka in a tough match that had to be settled through a David Simbuluka penalty.
Chibuluma 0 Buffaloes 3
Promoted Buffaloes made a long trip to Kalulushi where they picked up a morale boosting win in a tightly fought fixture that saw the visitors score a penalty through Larry Kaushiku to grab four points.
Meanwhile, in the B league, there were two unplayed games that saw Konkola win by a walkover after Kansanshi failed to travel and the case was the same for Roan after their guests Prisons failed to make the trip.
Mufulira beat ‘Killer Bees’ Ndola Wanderers 7-0 thanks to a Masanta Chisenga try converted by Miselo Bwalya. Nchanga were on bye in the first week of fixtures.