NAIROBI, Kenya, July 31 – Despite heartbreak in the final of the Christie 7s, Kenya Harlequin head coach Paul ‘Pau’ Murunga is proud of the progress displayed by his boys in the past weekend.
Murunga is confident it is a matter of when — and not if — his charges win one of the legs of the National Sevens Circuit (NSC).
“A good start for us…it can only get better. We still have five more legs to go but I am very sure that we’ll cruise into either the final or win one of them. That is our target,” he said.
The three-time NSC champions played out a thrilling final in the opening leg of the circuit, losing 17-12 to Kabras Sugar at their RFUEA Grounds backyard.
The westerners raced into a 12-0 lead in the first half before Amon Wamalwa’s surging run culminated in a try for Quins at the cusp of the break.
Murunga’s charges came back as charged bulls, doing well to level the scores midway through the second half before William Mwanji broke the home fans’ hearts with a last-gasp winner.
It was a match that left the former Kenyan international buzzing with pride at the character exhibited by his troops on the pitch.
“It was a really good final…losing by one try is a show of character from the players. Just one or two mistakes we had in this final; I think our defence was good apart from the last try that they made. Second half was brilliant apart from the last try,” he observed.
Reflecting on their performance throughout the weekend, Murunga is cognisant of the need for tweaks to their playing style to achieve perfection.
“We need a lot of concentration in terms of defence. It was better early in the morning when we played but a bit of lapses in the final so I think we just need to focus on the defence but our attack is good,” Murunga said.
Quins will be in action at the Kakamega Showground for the next leg of the NSC – Kakamega 7s – where they face Nondies, Mwamba RFC and Daystar University Falcons in Pool B.
Their match against the students will be a repeat of Christie where they won 33-7.
