Kenya Chipu ready for World Cup U20 showdown at Nyayo

Kenya’s Chipu players celebrate in a match against Uganda in their Rugby Africa U20 Barthes Trophy match. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

With two days left to the much-awaited World Rugby U20 Trophy, the national under-20 rugby 15s captain Laban Kipsang said Kenya Chipu are ready to scrum with the best teams at Nyayo Stadium on Saturday.

Chipu will play Samoa U20 on Saturday from 12pm after Scotland play the opener of the 2023 global junior rugby event against African Barthes Cup champions Zimbabwe from 10am.

Chipu, who are in Group B together 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 ago, and Kipsang believes Kenya is ready for a rebirth.

Speaking to Standard Sports, the Kenya Harlequin star said the feeling at their camp has been good, as they have worked on their mistakes witnessed when they finished second during the Barthes Cup.

“We are working as a team to make Kenya proud. This competition is going to expose many of the young lads to intense level of rugby and we cannot wait to show the world Kenyan rugby," said Kipsang.

“Individually, I want to learn new skills from these great teams as well as challenge myself to play even better than before,” said Kipsang.

“We have had a challenge in our offensive set-plays where we lacked flow and carried the ball way too much during our past games. That has been rectified because we know we have to be swift, make quick decisions and attack aggressively before the opponents settle.”

In the 28-man squad named last week, UK-based Spencer Davies headlines six youngsters handed their debuts in the prestigious eight team global tournament.

The 19-year-old fly half, who played for Kenya in the U13 side, will be joined by Vincent Omondi (second row), Andycole Omollo (second row), Nathan Tsindoli (backrow), Alvin Kalori (centre) and James Olela (back).

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

“We are going to use the Barthes Cup as a lesson and work on the many mistakes we made and iron out our game tactics because with the World Cup, everything must be on point,” said the KCB rugby head coach.

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.

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

The World Rugby U20 Trophy returns this year for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Besides the silverware, the eight competing teams will also be playing for a spot in the World Rugby U20 Championship next year in South Africa.

Winners will be promoted to the U20 Championship.