Oilers looking to improve ahead of Christie Sevens

“KCB and Strathmore have really opened the gap at the top, so, for us to keep the competition for the overall circuit, the least we can get for Christie 7s is silver and that's our aim for Christie; being in the final whether we need to lose it, but we're in the final,” assessed Buyachi.

The coach says their lack of pre-season action has greatly impacted the team but he’s optimistic judging by the steady improvement witnessed in Driftwood and Prinsloo 7s.

“The first two legs have been a rollercoaster for us. It's really very slow in Driftwoods, finishing fifth, losing to KCB, then at Prinsloo we were much okay. I think we finished fifth, fourth, not where we wanted, wanted to be in the silver-gold bracket, but we didn't manage. Again, losing to KCB again in the semis.”

He continued “For us, it's been a learning curve. I think we didn't expose our players into pre-tournament before the circuit began but we've been steadily improving.”

The former Kisumu RFC tactician says the team has been boosted by the availability of Philip Okeyo, and the return of Kenya Simbas’ Samuel Ovwamu.

“I know getting the likes of John Okoth, his younger brother Philip Okeyo, on the loop, I think it really helped the team because they are X-Factor players and they know what to do. So, I think it worked for us.

"Unfortunately, again, we won’t be having John Okoth and his brother because they have a family function at home but I think we are boosted by Kenya Simbas Centre, Samuel Ovwamu who will come in and try to cover the void and then we go and play and see how far we can go. Our main aim remains the same, the final, final, final.”

Oilers are in Pool C alongside Kabras Sugar, Daystar Falcons and Uganda’s invitational side Ruga Ruga RFC.