Kenya finished fourth in the 2024 Rugby Africa Cup behind Zimbabwe, Algeria and Namibia. Its a drop off from the 2023 edition where Kenya finished second to Namibia. However all things considered, Kenya fans could not have expected a better performance against any of the top three teams:
Zimbabwe
The 2024 edition of the Zimbabwe Sables is significantly different from the one that has faced Kenya in recent years. Zimbabwe is now able to call upon its vast rugby playing diaspora. Among these is loose forward Aiden Burnett who was voted man of the match in the final against Algeria. Burnett is a product of Gloucester Academy, and has played in Super BUCS which is the elite Universities league in the UK. , National 1, and A-League Rugby. Before moving to the UK for university he played academy rugby in South Africa
Scrum Half Ian Prior is a product of the Australia youth setup, having played for Australia U20. He also played for Harlequins in England and currently plays for the Western Force is Super Rugby.
Fullback Tapiwa Mafura is a product of the South Africa rugby setup and has played in the Currie Cup for Free State Cheetahs and Golden Lions
In addition, Zimbabwe played in the 2023 Currie Cup premier division, thus gaining valuable experience and cohesion. The overall result was a commanding performance in which Zimbabwe dispatched Namibia 32-10 in the semis before beating Algeria 29-3 in the final.
Zimbabwe is now poised to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 36 years.
Algeria
The entire Algerian squad was born in France, played in the French youth setup which results in players having advanced skill levels . They all play for professional teams in the French rugby pyramid. They include players who feature for TOP 14 teams like lock Johan Aliouat who plays for Biarritz and loosie Saïd Hireche who plays for Brive.
With a squad of highly skilled players playing rugby full time for French sides. it comes as no shock that Algeria beat Kenya. And with Algeria able to call upon its vast French diaspora, Kenya should expect stiff competition from “France B” in the next few years.
Namibia
Namibia needs no introduction. They have dominated Africa rugby for decades and have qualified for every World Cup since 1999. In the 2023 edition of the Africa cup, they beat Kenya 36-0. This time they won 38-27 which is was a far better performance by Kenya. As such Kenya’s performance was an improvement over last year. And it is for this reason that we can conclude that under the circumstances, Kenya played better than expected.
Kenya
Unless Kenya works to enhance the skill levels of their players through structured youth development, Kenya can expect to continue falling behind the aforementioned teams. Even an appearance in the World Cup repecharge will become a pipe dream.
