NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 23 – Following their opening win against Namibia, the national under-20 team will be out to pick a second straight win when they face Tunisia on Wednesday in the Rugby Africa Barthes Trophy.
Kenya fondly known as Chipu Head Coach Simon Jawichre has called on his team to be on the frontfoot.
Speaking to Kenya Rugby from Harare, Jawichre said, “For Tunisia we are tasking the leadership to keep the psyche up and to ensure the front foot. We’re not changing the game plan, but just tightening the loose ends.”
The team survived a late rally on Saturday, racing into a 23-6 lead at the break before surviving a second half rally from Namibia before eventually claiming the result 34-38.
Commenting on this fixture, Jawichre said, “Game against Namibia was a grind and depicts the challenges we have had in preparations. The advantage we have is the bunch of boys are very positive and confident, albeit we have to keep streamlining our set pieces and defense set up. Suffice to say the Namibia match was their very first match this year, we never even had a friendly.”
The Rugby Africa U20 Barthes Trophy is the official men’s U20 championship for Africa.
The winner of this competition qualifies to represent Africa at the World Rugby U20 Trophy which this year takes place from 2-17 July in Scotland.
This year’s competition features four teams led by hosts and defending champions Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tunisia and Namibia and is played on a round robin basis with the team accumulating the most points after three rounds declared the winner.
