Mwamba coach Collins Injera on how to break circuit's quarter-final curse

©Raymond Makhaya

RUGBY Mwamba coach Collins Injera on how to break circuit's quarter-final curse

Mark Kinyanjui 10:35 - 07.08.2023

Kulabu have finished fifth in all the legs of the circuit this season.

Mwamba Sevens assistant coach Collins Injera has challenged his side to eliminate sluggish starts to tournaments in the National Sevens Circuit if they are to ever overcome the quarter-final barrier in the remaining legs of the series.

Kulabu finished fifth for the third tournament in a row after being beaten at the quarter-final stage yet again by Kenya Harlequins at the Prinsloo Sevens.

Tony Omondi’s penalty in sudden death saw Mwamba defeat Strathmore Leos 22-19 to claim fifth place.

The two sides were tied 19-19 at the close of regulation time, Mwamba scoring their points through Steve Sikuta who landed twice, and Tony Omondi who also chimed in with two conversions.

The legendary former Kenya 7s player has challenged his boys to stay consistent from the first to the last game if they are to better their quarter-final finishes at the Christie 7s this weekend.

“We started a bit slow but we picked up against Daystar, picked up against Strathmore which are our pool games, but we let ourselves down a little bit in terms of execution in the Strathmore game,” Injera said.

“We woke up to play against Harlequins which I can say was a very sluggish performance from the team, but we addressed that.

“After addressing it, we went to play the fifth place semifinal with Homeboyz and played well, went into extra time, and they managed to do most of the things that we had discussed and then going to the final again against Strathmore, it is always tough, but the boys know each other well and we came out with the win.

“Finishing fifth is not a bad thing but it is funny because it is the third tournament we have finished fifth. We also finished fifth in Mombasa and Kisumu. We just hope by the time we get to Christie 7s next weekend in Nairobi, we will be able to break that quarter-final barrier.”

Mwamba are currently sixth on 39 points after three legs, 25 points behind leaders Kabras Sugar.

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