NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 15 – National under-20 rugby team head coach Curtis Olago says silly mistakes cost them in their 34-25 loss to Samoa in their opening match of the World Under-20 Rugby Trophy at the Nyayo Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Olago said his charges didn’t play according to plan, which allowed the Oceania side to establish dominance in the game.
“We started the game well but I think we lost it in about 10 minutes in the first half. We just didn’t play according to plan and we allowed them to control the game,” Olago said.
Chipu drew first blood against the two-time champions courtesy of Stanslaus Shikoli in the 10th minute before the Samoans replied a minute later via Paul Stanley.
The first half ended 13-5 in favour of the Oceania side as the home boys sought to leverage on home advantage.
On resumption in the second half, the Samoans picked up from where they had left with two quick, successive tries to extend their lead to 27-5.
However, Chipu came back guns blazing, first courtesy of a Wycliffe Otieno try in the 59th minute to reduce the scores to 27-13.
However, the Samoans regained control of the match with a converted try to make it 34-13.
The home team were not to be cowed, though, George Otieno putting the oval ball over the white chalk to make it 34-18.
There was still time for one last try as Chipu chased an unlikely comeback, scoring a last-gasp try to make it 34-25.
Reflecting on the events of the day, Olago said his charges weren’t able to hog the ball as they had planned to.
“We wanted to maintain the pace of the game by keeping the ball. Unfortunately, we were not able to keep the ball most of the time,” Olago explained.
Chipu next play Spain on Thursday and Olago says they will approach the duel with the same ‘warrior mentality’ exhibited on Saturday.
“We set out to win this match and did not think too much about their pedigree. For the next match, we will sit down together and plan for the best course of action,” he said.
-Samoa Coach-
His opposite in the dugout, Galumelana Rudolf, admitted Kenyans were a tough nut to crack and that his charges had to be at their very best.
“Kenya is a very good team…the game was very hard and we had to fight for the win. I told my boys before the game to be very wary. I told my boys to get the points first and to keep at it,” Rudolf said.
Nonetheless, he was unhappy about the indiscipline in his ranks, noting that it allowed Chipu a route back into the game.
“That is very disappointing to me…it cost us a lot. We had three yellow cards and that allowed them back into the game. So, my message to the players is to remain calm.and play their game,” he said.
In other matches of the day, Uruguay beat United States 33-31 as Spain walloped Hong Kong 53-0.
The next string of matches will be on Thursday at the same venue.
