Ruthless Chipu stay in hunt for Barthes Trophy
Kenya captain Micheal Wamalwa (centrre) celebrates with teammates after their win against Hong Kong-China during their World Rugby Under 20 Trophy match on July 25, 2023 at Nyayo National Stadium.
What you need to know:
- Chipu, last year’s losing finalists, Wednesday landed eight tries to silence Tunisia 56-17 for their second consecutive victory in the championship
- The Kenyan juniors had battled to stop two-time champions Namibia 38-34 on Saturday in their first match
- The team with the highest points after the three rounds will be declared the winner
Two-time champions Kenya’s Chipu are a step away from recapturing the Rugby Africa Under-20 Barthes Trophy.
Chipu, last year’s losing finalists, Wednesday landed eight tries to silence Tunisia 56-17 for their second consecutive victory in the championship at the Harare Sports Club.
Chipu, the 2019 and 2021 champions, led 26-5 at the break after overturning North Africans' early lead.
The Kenyan juniors had battled to stop two-time champions Namibia 38-34 on Saturday in their first match.
Chipu will play hosts Zimbabwe Sables in their last match on Saturday in the championship being played in round-robin format.
The team with the highest points after the three rounds will be declared the winner.
The Sables kicked their title defence campaign with a 46 -21 win over Tunisia at Harare Sports Club.
The Sables beat Chipu 28-7 in the final to retain the Barthes Trophy at the Nyayo National Stadium last year.
Centre Michael Wamalwa and winger Alvin Khavoli landed two tries each as eighth man Iddo Kuta, hooker Bramwel Anekea and substitutes Willy Tino and Brian Shile managed a try apiece to put Chipu through.
Tunisia were first off the blocks with good ball-handling to land an unconverted try before Chipu turned on the heat with Kuta grounding the ball from a rolling maul to tie the score 5-5.
Fullback James Olela added the extras to put Chipu in the driver's seat and never looked back.
Fly-half Jackson Siketi was replaced by Philip Okeyo after sustaining an injury, as Wamalwa waylaid three markers to score. Olela converted to extend their lead to 14-5.
Chipu proved ruthless, giving Tunisia no breathing space to drive forward. Wassim Ifaoui was sin-binned to give the Kenyans numerical advantage to land another try through Khavoli.
