When Kenya Harlequin released close to 30 key players in September 2025, the decision threatened to derail the club’s ambitions.Download our Mozzart Sport app for more newsAmong the notable players released were Abel Matanda, Collins Bett, Frank Aduda, Marvin Ng’ang’a, Shaquel Bosire, Albert Alela, Wycliffe Ochieng, Antony Stephen Otieno, Charlton Mokua, Bill Austine Abuom, Brian Ratila, Sheldon Kahi, Amon Wamalwa, Paul Matani, Franklin Githinji and many more.
For a club accustomed to competing at the top, such a significant player exodus could easily have triggered a challenging season. Instead, Quins chose to rebuild from the ground up.John Okoth struggling to process Ultimate 7s disappointment despite Christie 7s triumphThe process has not been without its challenges, but the early signs suggested the club may have found a sustainable path forward.
Quins finished ninth in the 2025/26 Kenya Cup with 21 points, comfortably avoiding relegation. Their most encouraging progress, however, has come in the 2026 National 7s Circuit.From the six legs played, Quins reached four quarterfinals. They went as far as the third-place playoff at the Dala 7s, finishing fourth after a narrow defeat by Mwamba RFC. Their only failure to reach the last eight came at the Driftwood 7s and the Christie 7s. For head coach Patrice Agunda, the turnaround started with introspection.Losing almost 30 players forced Kenya Harlequin to confront difficult questions about the direction of the club.
Rather than attempting to replace every departing player with established names, Agunda and his technical team focused on finding players who genuinely wanted to be part of the Quins project. How teams have contributed players to the national teams for Safari 7s“It is very difficult to lose players, but for us we had to introspect and see how we could avoid the same scenario, and we had to work back and get players who want to be at the club and represent it,” Agunda said.
For Agunda, rebuilding was never going to be solely about recruitment. The bigger task was creating an environment where players felt valued and connected to the club.“It was just about getting the players to love being at the club and creating the right culture, having them enjoy each other’s company and once they do that, they could play for each other,” he said.
That culture became central to Quins’ revival.Instead of building a team around individual talent, the club sought to develop a group that enjoyed playing together and was prepared to fight for one another.The former Quins captain believes the most important transformation has been psychological.
Willis Ojal lists reasons for stepping down as Strathmore Leos coachThe club wanted players who were not only capable rugby players, but young men with ambition and a desire to improve their lives beyond the pitch.“You want players who want to be at the club, play, and are ambitious. Most of all, players who want something with their lives,” he explained.That philosophy has also shaped how the club approaches the players’ lives away from rugby.
For Agunda, developing players means understanding that they are people first and athletes second.“Even if we had an important game and there was a life event for one of our players, the life event came first,” he said.That approach has helped create a stronger bond within the squad.
Ashiundu reveals how Kabras teammates supported him after painful loss of family member“When you start seeing such signs, it shows that we were going to be okay,” Agunda offered.Four quarterfinal appearances in the National 7s Circuit legs represent a significant improvement, but Agunda believes the young Quins side still has plenty of room to grow.Experience remains one of their biggest challenges.
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“We have a young squad. With lack of experience also comes a lack of discipline in executing the simple skills consistently,” he explained.In sevens, small errors can quickly become decisive. A misplaced pass, an unnecessary turnover or a failure to execute a basic skill can change the outcome of a match within seconds. Quins experienced that against KCB at the Embu 7s. They produced a competitive performance but struggled to retain possession and eventually suffered a 14-0 defeat.
For Agunda, however, such setbacks are part of the learning process rather than evidence that the rebuilding project is failing.“When results were not going our way, for us it was controlling the factors that we could control and trusting the process, playing for each other, enjoying what we do, and looking at things differently,” he asserted.The emphasis, therefore, has been on progress rather than immediate results. “Every chance we get to play, our main aim is to grow,” he concluded.