Kenya’s Under-20 men’s rugby team, Chipu, have set their
sights on a high-stakes showdown against Namibia on Wednesday, after kicking
off their Barthes Trophy title defence with a gritty 29-21 victory over Tunisia
at the Old Hararians Sports Club in Harare, Zimbabwe.
In a rematch of last year’s clash, where Chipu romped to a
56-17 win over the North Africans, this year’s contest was anything but a walk
in the park.
The Tunisians came out firing, forcing Chipu into a bruising
encounter that demanded composure and resilience. Under the guidance of head
coach Simon Jawichre, the Kenyans weathered the early storm to lead 19-11 at
the break after a lively opening spell.
Fly-half Faran Juma slotted home a crucial penalty in the
second half to widen the margin to 22-11, before winger Dennis Ndayala touched
down for a vital try that Juma duly converted to make it 29-16. Tunisia hit
back with a late five-pointer to narrow the deficit, but Chipu held their
defensive shape and saw out the contest to bag their opening win.
The victory marked a solid return to the showpiece for
Chipu, who lifted the trophy last year with a commanding 28-13 triumph that
ended Zimbabwe’s two-year reign as champions. Zimbabwe had won the trophy in
2022 and 2023. Chipu had also claimed back-to-back titles in 2019 and 2021
picking from Namibia who dominated the inaugural tournament in 2017 and
defended the title in 2018.
This year’s Chipu side features just one returning player
from the 2024 championship-winning squad—fly-half Juma, whose experience and kicking
prowess were evident in the opening match.
Speaking ahead of the Namibia fixture, Jawichre urged his
young charges to channel the energy of past champions. “We looked into some of
our highlights of the Barthes of 2024, just to get the guys’ mentality into
it,” Jawichre said.
Chipu will lock horns with Namibia on Wednesday at 1 pm, before wrapping up the round-robin format with a crunch clash against hosts Zimbabwe on Sunday at 3 pm. Namibia will be hoping to secure a second victory in the tournament after dealing a 41-22 blow to hosts Zimbabwe in the opening match.
