Cardovillis Reflects On Driftwood Win
Kenya Harlequin Head Coach Charles Cardovillis has spoken after his side posted a 19-14 win over Menengai Cream Homeboyz to win the third round of the National Sevens Series, the Driftwood sevens this past weekend in Mombasa.
In a post-match interview with Kenya Rugby, Cardovillis said, “It’s unbelievable… We’ve come unstuck in the last two tournaments, losing at the semifinal stage in both tournaments. We have gone a step further…winning it at the end was fantastic.”
“Homeboyz bullied us a lot, especially at the contact area, but the boys kept calm. Our subs came off the bench and did what they had to do. I am very happy for the lads out there. It’s just the way we wanted to end the three part series before we go into the break and then now launch ourselves towards going for the main title from the Dala Sevens,” he added.
With three different winners after three rounds of the series, Cardovillis shared his sentiments on the remaining rounds, saying, “It’s not on the heart for some of us who are coaching, but as a neutral it is perfect, it is good for Kenyan rugby, it will be very interesting to see how we go into the next three legs and how teams prepare. Homeboyz have built a lead but we’ve cut the lead with our win. We’ll keep pushing them. Strathmore look very impressive, especially after losing many players, they look very tidy. Then there’s Kabras coming out of nowhere, it is anyone’s race, anything can happen in the game of sevens…so we just keep pushing and try to win every tournament.”
The quality of competition was another talking point for the former Kenya Sevens international, he said, “It has been very good. I remember our first game at the season opening Prinsloo Sevens against Blak Blad, we won it at the death…and we’ve all seen what Blak Blad did to teams this weekend…you can’t take any team for granted. Many teams are playing really good rugby, the talent is equally good. It is only going to get better; it’s good for the local game.”
Ambitious Blad Focused On Performing Better
Faced with, what on paper seemed to be two difficult opening encounters against Driftwood top seeds Impala and Nakuru, the students rallied to overturn a 0-10 deficit, claiming Impala’s scalp 14-10 before beating Nakuru 14-7 to reach the cup quarters with a game to spare. A win over Makueni confirmed their place in the cup quarters for the first time this season, and Head Coach Michael “Tank” Otieno, speaking at the close of day one, said, ““We prepared well in advance for our games. I knew we’ll make it to the quarters.”
A further loss to KCB in the plate semifinals saw their tournament come to an end having garnered 10 series points in Mombasa, and Team Manager Erick Ogweno, commenting at the close of the tournament said, “ We achieved our goals for this weekend. We came here to take it a step higher from the previous two tournaments, which I think we did.”
With three more rounds of the series still to play, Ogweno said, “ Expect progress from us. We are targeting more than the plate semis going forward.”
Tatu City Series
The Tatu City Series fixtures take place in Nairobi on Tuesday 23 August and Saturday 27 August respectively.
The Tuesday evening encounter pits Kenya “A” against Hong Kong and will be played at the Impala Club, the kickoff slated for 7.00pm. Tickets for this particular fixture will cost Ksh 300.
Saturday’s fixture will take place at the RFUEA Grounds and will pit the Kenya Simbas against Hong Kong, kick off time slated for 4.00pm. Tickets will cost Ksh 500 at the gate with advance tickets retailing at Ksh 400.
Advance tickets can be purchased on ticketsasa.com paybill number Paybill number: 330330 , Account name: KRFU
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