Kenya Sunday settled for second place at the Rugby Africa Under-20 Barthes Trophy after losing 28-7 against a resolute Zimbabwean side at Nyayo National Stadium.
Third place went to Namibia who staged a great comeback from 20-3 down to beat Tunisia in sudden death 25-20.
Kenya U-20 side, known as Chipu, trailed 21-7 at the breather after scoring a converted try through captain Laban Kipsang and never found the breakthrough in the rainy second half attended by close to 3,000 fans, including Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna, Sports Principal Secretary Jonathan Mueke and Rugby Africa General Manager Azouz Aib and Treasurer Aaron Jani.
The hosts were at a disadvantage late in first half after Iddo Kuta and Geylord were sin-binned.
Curtis Olago’s charges were outsmarted with quick runs and passing as well as support play and good defence.
Kenya’s try against Zimbabwe was the first try the Junior Sables conceded in the tournament as they whipped Cote d’Ivoire 55-0 in quarter-finals and Tunisia 60-6 in semi-finals.
Chipu defeated Uganda 44-20 in quarters and Namibia 24-13 in semi-finals.
The Namibians, who lost 19-14 against Zimbabwe in last year’s final, leveled 20-20 at the end of regulation time before proceeding to sudden death where they grounded the winning try at the corner after Tunisia poorly cleared danger in their try box.
Cote d’Ivoire came from behind twice to dismiss Zambia In the day’s opening fixture, Uganda came from 5-12 at halftime to escape the axe with a 21-17 win against Madagascar in the seventh-place playoff.
Ugandan coach Emmanuel Katuntu was delighted with the escape. “It feels so nice that the pressure is now off,” he said.
Barthes Trophy was previously called Rugby Africa Division 1 “A” U20. It was named after the late World Rugby Regional Manager for Africa Jean-Luc Barthes who passed away in 2016.
The Barthes Trophy serves as a qualifying event for World Rugby Under-20 Trophy.
This year’s World Trophy will involve Scotland (relegated from the World Rugby U20 Championship in 2019), and regional winners Hong Kong (U19 Asia Rugby Championship), Samoa (Oceania Trophy), Spain (Rugby Europe U20 Championship) and Uruguay (South American U20 Championship) as well as Zimbabwe (African representative) and hosts Kenya.
The winner of the U20 North America championship between the USA and Canada scheduled for May 30 and June 3, will fill the remaining slot.
