How absence of experienced players exposed KCB's weaknesses against Quins
.jpg)
Reading Time: 3min | Wed. 21.01.26. | 15:47
Samuel Asati, Vincent Onyala, Floyd Wabwire, George Ooro and Festus Shiasi are in South Africa with Shujaa
Former Kenya Cup champions KCB Rugby may have extended their unbeaten run with a 24–12 victory over Kenya Harlequin, but assistant coach Jacob Ojee has admitted the performance exposed gaps caused by the absence of several experienced players.
The Bankers were without several regular starters who are currently on national duty with the Kenya Sevens team in South Africa.
Follow our WhatsApp channel for more news
Samuel Asati, Vincent Onyala, Floyd Wabwire, George Ooro and Festus Shiasi are in South Africa with Shujaa.
Head coach Andrew Amonde was also away in camp in his role as Shujaa’s Strength and Conditioning coach.
Speaking to Mozzart Sport after the match, Ojee, a former winger at the club, admitted that the disruptions were evident in his charges’ inability to control key areas of the game, particularly against a well-prepared Harlequin side.
“Credit to Quins, they came well prepared and were ready for the game. They were very resolute in defence, and it made things difficult for us. It was a shaky match on our side,” he offered.
.jpg)
The former Kenya Sevens speedster went on to point to the set pieces as a major area of concern, noting that KCB failed to fully capitalize even when they appeared to have the upper hand.
“We did not have complete dominance in the set pieces. The contest was fairly even in both the scrums and lineouts, but not to the level we wanted.
In the lineouts where we had an upper hand, we should have converted more opportunities into tries, but they kept breaking our mauls. That’s an area we need to work on,” he said.
_(1).jpg)
Ojee further added that while the scrum held up reasonably well, it still fell short of the standards expected at KCB.
“The scrums were not bad, but there is always room for improvement,” he said.
Despite the shortcomings, the former international was keen to highlight the positives, particularly the team’s ability to remain competitive even when momentum was lacking.
Towards the end of the closing half, KCB made the final minutes count.
After camping in the Quins’ 22 in the closing minutes, Brian Wahinya broke through a tackle to score, before converting his own try to seal the 24–12 win at the death.
“It was not our best performance, so we will take the learning points and turn our focus to the next match.
We will take the positives like staying in the game and remaining in the fight, and address what did not work, particularly our momentum and continuity,” he said.
On the absence of senior players, Ojee insisted the coaching staff still believes in the squad’s depth, even if execution fell short on the day.
“We are missing some of our regular players, including those on national team duty, but we also trust the depth of our squad to step up and do the job.
Unfortunately, it was not our best day, but the players who featured gave a good account of themselves. There is still work to be done on our side,” he concluded.
Up next, the Bankers will make a short trip to the Kenyatta University to face Blak Blad in an expected mouth-watering clash.
