By Herbert Mwachiro
May 10 2006

Kenya Harlequin dropped their first points of the season when they lost 28-25 in a pulsating and thrilling match played at the RFUEA ground on Saturday 22nd April 2006. The loss also saw Quins lose their unbeaten record but there was solace in the character of the fight back and the two bonus points picked up in that defeat.

Quins began the match in sleep mode and conceded a quick try five minutes into the game (5-0). The same flow continued and they were again behind the try line (12-0). The faithful had not panicked yet but Mwamba continued in high gear and soon it was 17-0. Bad refereeing aside Quins had simply not woken up. A penalty by Julius Abwanzo made the scores 17-3 , but Mwamba made it 23-3 at the break with two more penalties with Quins having a pushover try disallowed. Strong words from Head Coach Tom 'Crusader' Odundo plus a couple of changes in personnel saw Quins come out in their true colours as the points started piling in at the Mwamba end. Tries by Allan Onyango, and Edward Kinyany brought Quins to 23-15. A defensive lap saw Quins concede a try and the score stretched to 28-15. Two more tries by Evans Onyango and Sidney Ashioya brought the scores to 28-25 in favour of Mwamba. With Quins poised to give it once last effort in going for the winning try, the referee to the amazement of all and much chagrin of the Quins faithful ended the game with four minutes to spare. He being the sole point of judgement at that particular instance had thwarted our comeback with his whistle. Thus the final score remained at 28-25 in favour of Mwamba. Surely the four minutes would have been played to ensure a fair end to the game. Mwamba had done enough in the first half to take all five points while Quins showed great character in the second half to come within 3 points of at least snatching a draw.

The seconds meanwhile got their campaign back on track wit a 13-0 win over Kisumu RFC at the lakeside city. A gritty performance saw them come back with 4 points and a clean sheet.

Previously at the Easter Blackrock festival our ladies team the Quins Kweens put in a sterling performance in a best of 2 series game against the Mwamba Invaders. They drew 5-5 in the first game and narrowly lost 12-10 at the death in the final game. Kudos to their strong performance as they look to reappear at the Safari Sevens in June.

This weekend sees the team take part in the Nakuru Tens a two day tournament over the long weekend. Champions we were in 2004, we aim to get back that trophy from Mwamba who snatched it from us in 2005. Good luck to the boys and lets all head to flamingo country in Nakuru and support the boys to victory on Saturday and Sunday.

On team recruitment as much we have tried to keep it under wraps eventually it has to come out. Quins have signed national team player (15 s and 7s) Ian 'Namcos' Simiyu. Namcos joins Quins from Impala. He is recovering from a broken jaw however and will be out of action till June. A versatile player he is, can fit anywhere on the backline from fly half to fullback. Continue watching this space.

The membership drive is on and continuing

8. Rodrigues Orawo - Superior
7. Aidan Moore - Superior
6. Ralph Nzomo - Superior
5. James Absaloms Juma - Superior
4. Ken Muli - Superior
3. Andrew Kimani - Superior
2. Dominique Dimba - Superior
1. Esther W Nganga - Strong

An update will continue every time QUINZONE surfaces.

Please reach out to as many Friends of Quins (FOQ) as possible and if there are contacts of people out there young and old and with Quins at heart please let us have their contacts as well.