Leos' Ojal bullish about 7s Circuit title prospects after Embu 7s win
FILE: Strathmore Leos Marvin Nganga left and Richel Wangila of Kenya Harlequins in the final Kenya Cup match of the regular season at RFUEA grounds on February 25, 2023. Photo by Sportpicha
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“That is why we wake up to go train early in the morning, why we put in the shift in the gym, why we do the sprints, we are not going for anything less because our target is to finish at the top and that's why we try and put in the work.”
The soft spoken tactician says he was elated by his team’s gutsy performance that saw them dispatch KCB 31-21 to right the wrongs of Christie 7s where Leos lost to KCB in the final.
“I think it just came from the targets that we had set, and then when we fell short last weekend at Christie's, we knew we had ground to make, and we knew we let ourselves down last weekend, so we knew it's only us who can uplift ourselves, no one else can do it for us.”
Leos captain Barnabas Owuor was in tantalizing form over the weekend taking home the Most Valuable Player gong and Ojal expounds on his importance to the squad.
“He’s been very crucial for the team for a very long time. He's been a leader on and off the pitch, so he has a lot of experience, having served the club the longest. This being, I think, his eighth year, so it was very crucial for ensuring that the club, the team understands what it means to be a Leo.”
Leos lost their talisman George Ooro to rivals KCB RFC before the start of the circuit but Ojal is impressed by the boys who have stepped up to fill the void left by the explosive forward.
“As a university side, we know every year you have to lose people, people have to graduate and move on with life. So we always try and have a plan on if this person leaves, who's going to step in. So when he decided to leave, we had to carry on and say, OK, who steps up, who does these things for us because obviously when he came, he was not in Kenya team, he was not known and he was built to the point where he is.
"So, we always take it as a challenge to build the next person to be better than what they were when they joined us.”
KCB RFC are still top of the standing with 82 points, two points ahead of Strathmore Leos.
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