Kenya’s U20 rugby team, known as Chipu, faced back-to-back defeats in the World U20 Trophy matches held at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh. After their opening loss to Uruguay 27-5, they struggled against the Netherlands, succumbing to a heavy 51-3 defeat.
The Netherlands, buoyed by their performance against the USA earlier, dominated Kenya from the outset on Sunday. Scrum-half Niek Doornenbal opened the scoring for the Dutch within two minutes, slipping through tackles near the try line. Full-back Ilan Vaasen successfully converted but missed the extra points after centre Kees de Bruin’s try shortly after.
Maintaining control, the Netherlands extended their lead with a penalty by Vaasen in the 11th minute, pushing their advantage to 15 points. Kenya faced more challenges when second row Clein Omukhulu received a yellow card for illegally bringing down a driving maul five minutes later.
The Dutch seized the opportunity, with number eight Joris Smits scoring from a powerful lineout drive. Vaasen impressively converted from the touchline.
Kenya managed to get on the scoreboard with a penalty by James Olela as the match reached its second quarter. However, any relief was short-lived as Netherlands fly-half Tom Hijdra executed a fine pass to Kit Temperley, who finished the move with a try.
Kenya’s U20 team displayed resilience after halftime, making it more challenging for the Dutch to score. It wasn’t until over 22 minutes into the second half that the Netherlands added their seventh try, with Ilan Vaasen finishing an impressive counter-attack in the left corner.
Replacement winger Flynn Baker capped off the Dutch performance with a try in the 74th minute, showcasing a strong finish on the opposite flank. Despite Vaasen missing both touchline conversions in the second half, the Netherlands secured a comfortable 51-3 victory, keeping alive their aspirations of reaching the final in their tournament debut.
