Defending champions of the National 7s Circuit, Kenya Harlequins, are preparing for the upcoming season by participating in the inaugural Ruff N Tuff tournament, scheduled for Saturday at the Ngong Race Course in Nairobi.
This one-day invitational event, organized by Nondescripts RFC, will showcase a competitive lineup featuring three university teams alongside five community-based squads, all vying for victory.
In a recent interview with Citizen Digital, the newly appointed head coach of Kenya Harlequins, Patrice Agunda, emphasized the significance of this tournament as a crucial preparatory opportunity for the national 7s circuit, which is set to kick off later this month in Mombasa.
“We are using Ruff N Tuff 7s to assess our players and build momentum ahead of the circuit,” said Agunda.
“We will use it to regain match fitness coming back from the off season and access our players,” he added.
Adera also emphasised the team’s intent to win the community-based tournament, stating that despite it being a build-up, they will be playing to lift the inaugural title.
“As much as it is a warm up tournament, we will be all out to win it. We will play to win.”
Kenya Harlequins who had an impressive run last year in the circuit will be looking to reciprocate their efforts and defend their title.
“We are the defending champs, and we intend to defend our crown.”
Agunda further confirmed that there have been no exits from the squad, but a few new faces have been added to strengthen the team as they look to defend the national 7s title they won last season.
“We have retained our title winning team from last season. We have added new faces who we will try out tomorrow as we try to get our final 20 man squad,” he concluded.
