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Kenya Harlequins FC successfully defended their Christie Sevens title, coming from behind to beat Mwamba 15-10 in Sunday’s Cup final played at the RFUEA Grounds in Nairobi. 

Boosted by the inclusion of Kenya Sevens internationals, such as Victor Sudi, Leon Adongo, Patrice Agunda and Sidney Ashioya, the “Mighty Quins” had the greater staying power in a nail-biting finale.

And it was Mwamba, who themselves boasted the likes of Humphrey Kayange and Collins Injera in their line-up, who fired the first salvo retaining possession from kick-off with Kayange powering over for an unconverted try (5-0).

They continued to dominate Quins, particularly at the contact points, and forced the quartered shirts into a series of unforced errors.

Tournament MVP Edgar Abere soon stretched Kulabu’s lead with a second unconverted try to make it 10-0 in favour of the black shirts.

Mwamba continued to enjoy the upper hand, but crucially failed to translate their possession into the points.

Felix Ochieng’s half time pep talk must have fired up the home side for they came into the second half filled with zest, prodding Mwamba as they clawed their way back from the dead. Victor Sudi touched down, cutting Mwamba’s lead to five points.

An unforced error from Horace Otieno gifted Quins their second try. His attempt at keeping the ball in play, from an opportunistic Quins punt, went horribly wrong and second-half substitute William Ambaka was on hand to pick up the pieces and score the easiest of tries.

Inexplicably Naftali Bondo missed the simplest of conversions from in front of the sticks, with the scores remaining at 10 apiece with the clock running down.

But it was Leon Adongo would eventually seal the win for Quins, crossing the line at the death amid wild celebrations to secure the title.

This result sees Quins perched at the top of the Western Union National Sevens Circuit with 24 points, four more than second placed Mwamba RFC.

Route to final

Quins beat Strathmore Leos 19-7 in the quarter-final before registering a 17-10 semi-final result, with tries from Patrice Agunda (2) and David Ambunya.

Mwamba made it courtesy of a 31-7 last-eight win over Kisumu RFC and a 28-0 semi-final result over Impala RFC, in a match that saw tournament top try scorer Collins Injera land twice with Edgar Abere and Humphrey Kayange adding the other tries. 

This weekend sees the sides travel to the Nakuru Athletic Club for the second round at the Prinsloo Sevens. 

Results

Bowl Quarters
Nondies 12 Daystar 5
Homeboyz 29 Egerton 0
Bungoma 5 Quins II 12
Blak Blad 26 KeMU 5

Cup Quarters
Mwamba RFC 31 Kisumu RFC 7
Impala RFC 24 Mean Machine 10
Nakuru RFC 17 Kenya Commercial Bank 14
Quins 19 Strathmore 7

Shield Semis
Daystar 38 Egerton 7
Bungoma 21 KeMU 12

Bowl Semis
Nondies 0 Homeboyz 7
Quins II 19 Blak Blad 12

Plate Semis
Kisumu 19 Machine 5
KCB 7 Strathmore 17

Cup Semis
Mwamba 28 Impala 0
Nakuru 10 Quins 17

Shield final
Daystar 17 Bungoma 0

Bowl Final
Homeboyz 28 Quins II 7

Plate Final
Kisumu 5 Strathmore 20

Main Cup Final
Mwamba 10 Quins 15

Tournament MVP
Edgar Abere Mwamba RFC

Top try scorer
Collins Injera Mwamba RFC 7 tries

Top points scorer
Kevin Wambua Mwamba RFC

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National Sevens Circuit Schedule

Christie Sevens –RFUEA Grounds, Nairobi, Sat 21st/Sun 22nd August 2010 - Winners - Kenya Harlequins RFC

Prinsloo Sevens - Nakuru Athletic Club, Nakuru, Fri 27th/Sat 28th August 2010

Dala Sevens - Kisumu Polytechnic, Kisumu, Sat 4th/Sun 5th September 2010

Kabeberi Sevens - RFUEA Grounds, Nairobim, Sat 18th/Sun 19th September 2010

Driftwood Sevens - Mombasa Sports Club, Mombasa, Sat 25th/Sun 26th September 2010