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Paul Murunga has questioned the ability of some of his players following Kenya Harlequins' heart-breaking loss to Nondies, which ended their Kenya Cup season.
Kenya Harlequin head coach Paul ‘Pau’ Murunga has attributed his side’s elimination from the Kenya Cup at Nondies expense to having a squad with some players who are still not ready to perform at the highest level.
Quins were bundled out 26-20 after playing for 55 minutes with 14 men after Zeden Marrow was dismissed in the 25th minute for a red-card offense.
They plugged away and were ahead by 20 points to six at some point, but Nondies fought back with three tries to win the game and make their first semi-finals in 10 years.
Murunga has blamed inexperience among his playing staff for failing to achieve their semi-final target.
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“We got a red card in the 25th minutes, which left us playing the rest of the match with 14 players, which for any team is a big loss,” Murunga said.
“The 14 guys had to play the entire game. We were ahead but in the end, we made two mistakes from missing our line out and then it cost us.
“The game was bad today. Considering the red card then wrong decisions by players, they panicked and could not execute our structures and play the way we were supposed to play.”
Murunga believes the lack of requisite experience has had a big effect on the players being rattled, which ultimately cost them the match.
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“We made wrong decisions when we could have gone for points but decided to make the same issues we made last week,” Murunga said.
“The learning curve is a bit slow for our players and many of them are not ready to play at this stage. For example, we saw our scrum half tapping the ball and kicking out.
“With time they will mature and make sure we are able to play at a higher stage than this. A tough one for us. It is a lesson they need to learn from today.”
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Murunga has challenged his charges to learn from this season’s heartbreak to get better next season, and possibly even make amends by doing well in the upcoming Enterprise Cup.
“As we go into next season and look towards playing in the Enterprise Cup, then there are lessons they have learnt from today. We soldier on and make sure we are able to play better.
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