The Kenya Under-20 rugby team will conduct training camps in Nairobi, Nakuru and Kakamega later this month as they gear up for Barthes Cup title defence in April.
Coach Simon Jawichre said Mombasa was supposed to be part of the programme but has been dropped due to the time factor and lack of funds.
“Lack of funds and time factor has forced us to drop Mombasa from the list,” he added.
The Catholic University Monks coach hopes Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) will get funding for the team soon as Chipu set their sights on defending the title they won last year in Harare, Zimbabwe.
“For the longest time, funding has always been the biggest challenge for our various national squads. We can’t afford to go to the championship when we are half-baked like last year. We hope a detailed funding plan will be availed in the next couple of weeks to enable the team to prepare adequately,” noted Jawichre.
The tactician said Chipu would be a target by being the title holder. “Last year nobody gave us a chance but we surprised them and carried the title. This year, the surprise factor is gone and everyone will want to beat us at the Championship,” said Jawichre.
Twelve players from the team that won the Africa Cup and went on to play in the World Rugby U-20 Trophy in Scotland will be retained alongside players from the Kenya Under-18 team.
“We are liaising with the Kenya U-18 team to see how we
can onboard some of the players.
We now have a good structure to
feed our various teams with the
U-18 and U-15 teams at our disposal. is will help our depth for the
Simbas and Kenya Sevens in future
matches,” observed Jawichre.
