Kenya Chipu assistant outlines team plans ahead of Junior World Rugby Tournament

It will be business unusual as the Kenya U20 national team Chipu prepares to tackle heavyweights in the upcoming Junior World Rugby tournament which is set for July 15-30.

The competition will see Chipu face off with strong teams from Scotland who were relegated from the U20 championship in 2019, Hong Kong (Asia), Samoa (Oceania), Spain (Europe), Zimbabwe (Africa) and Uruguay (South America).

The side put up a worthy battle in the U20 Barthes Cup finals despite going down 28-7 to Zimbabwe on Sunday 30 at the Nyayo Stadium. The Junior Sables clearly had the skill and effortlessly defended the title they last won on the same grounds last year against Namibia.

Kenya made a couple of basic handling errors that cost them. The pressure had evidently piled up despite Chipu being backed by a noisy Kenyan crowd.

According to Chipu assistant coach Louis Kisia, who also coaches Kenya Cup side Strathmore Leos, they will scale up their preparation ahead of the Junior World Rugby Tournament.

“Our next mission is now to prepare for the Junior World Rugby tournament (JWRT) because if we want success, we have to prepare well.

If we do a mediocre preparation then definitely, we shall give a mediocre performance. Ours is definitely going back to the drawing board just to right our wrongs. We shall analyze and see how best we shall tackle JWRT when it comes,” he disclosed.

Despite the inexposure, the determined Chipu went on to humble heavyweights Namibia 24-13. Namibia denied Chipu title contention in last year’s set piece after hitting them 16-5.

To qualify for the final stage, Chipu had seen off neighbors Uganda 44-20 in the quarterfinals before hitting Namibia 24-13. Their impressive run was cut short by Zimbabwe in the finals 28-7.

What is, even more, motivating for Chipu is that they will host the prestigious tournament. Curtis Olago’s charges will be keen to impress the home crowd as well as the country on the global scene.