Kenya U20 rugby team puts rivals on notice ahead of World Cup ties

Kenya's Felix Chacha (right) in action against Charles Mwadeghu of Uganda during their Rugby Africa U20 Barthes Trophy match at Nyayo Stadium. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

The national under-20 rugby 15s head coach Curtis Olago is confident Kenya Chipu will do well in the upcoming World Rugby U20 Trophy set for July 15, in Nairobi.

Chipu, who are in Group D with Asia champions Hong Kong, Samoa and Spain, will be looking forward to turn around their disappointments from their Barthes Cup defeat to Zimbabwe two months, an objective Olago is keen to achieve.

Olago said they are going all the way and with the backing of their home fans, they believe they will do better.

"It's two weeks to the matches and we have set the ball rolling with good drills in the camp that started on Tuesday. We have a lot of time to reflect on our last performance," said the KCB Rugby head coach.

"Of course, we are going to use the Barthes Cup as a lesson and work out the many mistakes we made and iron out our game tactics because with the World Cup, everything must be on point."

This is the second time Kenya is hosting the U20 Trophy since 2009 when the tournament was known as the Junior World Rugby Trophy.

The competition took place in Brazil four years ago and Kenya has affirmed its readiness to welcome the next generation of global rugby talent over the next two weeks.

Barthes Cup champions Zimbabwe are in Group A alongside USA, Uruguay and Scotland.

Kenya Rugby Union Chairman, Alexander 'Sasha' Mutai said the tournament heralds a new beginning for Rugby in the country as the union looks to revive Safari Sevens tournament and re-introduce a 15s aside Kenya schools' tournament.

"We want to get things up. We want to turn back to our winning ways. With the Under 20 squad, we have confidence in the future of rugby and this tournament is just the beginning. We are ambitious and have no doubts that our boys will do well in the tournament," said Mutai.

Strength And Conditioning coach Motto Williams said the Kenyan team Chipu will begin to move from weekend camps to residential camps ahead of the tournament.

"We are checking and ticking the small boxes now as we plan to start full training ahead of the big event," said Williams.

"The boys did very well in the Barthes tournament and I believe with proper preparation, they will do even better in the World Rugby U20. We are also calling on all Kenyans to turn up in big numbers to rally behind our young stars."

The World Rugby U20 Trophy returns this year for the first time since the pandemic.