A rusty Kenya Simbas side lost 20-19 to Senegal in a Rugby Africa Cup Pool B match at Nyayo Stadium on Saturday.

The loss capped a bad day in office for Kenyan teams in international rugby after being stunned by the lowly-ranked Senegal in their opening match for 2023 Rugby World Cup qualifier.

Hours after Kenya Lionesses suffered a 27-15 thrashing at the hands of Madagascar, Simbas looked headed for a 19-13 victory against the West Africans in the World Cup qualifier cum Pool “B” Round 2 Africa Cup match until the dying seconds of the game when they allowed the charged up Senegalese to crush through for the winning play.

It was a tight contest from the beginning, with Fijian turned Kenyan Jone Kubu, who was making his debut for the Simbas, giving the 2011 and 2013 Africa champions a 6-0 lead from successive penalties inside the first 16 minutes.

Kenya conceded a penalty in the 26th minute that Mamadou Ndiaye made no mistake with his boots to reduce the deficit to three points as Senegal gradually got into the game.

Senegal failed to score from a penalty before the busy Kubu fed Darwin Mukidza on the right flank for the KCB fullback to cross the whitewash and extend Simbas lead to 11-3.

Fly half Kubu was sure with the conversion as Kenya went in the break with a 13-6 up advantage. Senegal hit the ground running in the second half with some strong running from their big men that kept Kenya on the back foot.

They deservedly got their first try of the match via Demba Kane that was converted by Mamdou Ndiaye to tie the game 13-13.

But Kubu, who was heavily influential in this encounter, drilled over a penalty to restore Kenya’s lead and then added a dropped goal after some good play by his forwards.

Six points was what the Kenyans got in this period that had Senegal’s Ndiaye sin-binned for a deliberate tap on.

Kubu, reliable all afternoon somehow failed to slot home another penalty, though to be fair to him, the angle and the distance was not in his favour.

Kubu, one of the few positive things to write about this Simbas side, was carried off the pitch injured midway through the half.

And when flanker Davis Chenge was sin-binned for a blatant infringement the visitors sensed a chance to upset their hosts.

Kenya lost the ball deep inside Senegal’s territory with two minutes left on the clock.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters

Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Top HeadlinesKenyaWorld CupSenegal

By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy.

The Senegalese booted deep for their line out. Keeping possession, they strung out several phases to stretch an overworked Kenya defence before Georges Pompidou barged over just outside the sticks for a 19-18 scoreline. Pompidou went on to calmly slot over the winning points and hand Senegal, better known for their football exploits, an upset win against their more illustrious rugby playing opponents.

“Our fate is not in our hands now. We have to beat Zambia next weekend but we are not guaranteed of qualifying for the next round. It could come down to mathematics,” said a visibly disappointed Kenya coach Paul Odera.

The loss puts Kenya in a bad place as they need to defeat Zambia next Sunday and hope for the best.

To Kenya’s advantage, Senegal will first play the Zambians on Wednesday.

The top-two teams from the pool will stay in contention for a place in 2023 World Cup in France as they will get to fight it out for one ticket in the eight-nation Africa Cup in 2022.

Meanwhile, in Barthes Trophy, Senegal were thrashed 34-3 by Madagascar in an earlier match at Nyayo.

The Senegalese were demolished 50-3 by defending champions Kenya on July 3. Kenya will meet the islanders on July 11 to decide the African champion.