Kenya will once again feature in the World Rugby Under 20 Trophy. This after they beat arch rivals Namibia 21-18 in a nail biting final at RFUEA grounds. Kenya had earlier registered an epic 73-0 win over Tunisia in the semi-finals. The World Rugby Under 20 Trophy is the second tier of global youth rugby. This marks the second time Kenya has participated.
In 2009, Kenya hosted the tournament and finished fourth after registering a shock win over the USA. The 2009 squad included players like Patrice Agunda, Lawrence Buyachi and Oscar Ouma. This year’s tournament will be held on July 9-21 in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil. Participating teams will include the hosts plus Uruguay, Portugal, Tonga, Japan and Hong Kong.
Pictures
Coach Paul Odera in tears of joy after qualifying
Hundreds of players attended trials for the team in March
Match Report
Namibia broke the deadlock with two successfully converted penalties that saw Delron Brandt boot home the second penalty extending his side’s lead to 6-0.
However, Chipu responded in a fascinating fashion as they became the first side to dot a try when Brian Amaitsa fended off a Namibian defender to sprint for the try line, but Dominic Coulson missed the extra two points after conversion went wide.
The try that saw the Kenyan boys reduce the points deficit to only one exited the huge fans who thronged the Lions Den to rally their support behind their home team.
Odera charges could have taken the lead if they had utilized their golden chance they were handed after Namibia was penalized for a penalty, only for the kick to bounce off the posts.
The Kenyan boys made the amends, with Michele Brighetti setting up Peter Ogeta with a wide pass before going over the whitewash for Chipu’s second try and hand Kenya a 6-10 lead despite Andrew Matoka missing the conversion and enjoy the 6-10 advantage at the break.
On resumption, Namibia went over thanks to Shaun Van Wyk pushover try before they converted successfully to claim back their lead with only one-point separating the two sides as the score board read 11-10 in favor of the visitors.
Matoka, who displayed a man of the match performance came to Kenya’s rescue once again after drilling home a penalty from 40m to take a two-point lead.
Chipu were penalized for an infringement and reduced to 13 players to see Namibia handed a scrum that they utilized well to find a second try with the conversion going in and take a 18-13 lead.
Kenya could not lose hope as they landed the third try that took matters to 18-18 draw after missing the conversion but a sigh of relief came by their side after they were awarded a penalty that proved the winner after successfully converting the kick.
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