Barthes Trophy returns to Kenya
Kenya Under-20 men's rugby team, Chipu captain John Baraka (right) receives the title from Sports CS Amina Mohamed after they won bronze in the 2022 Rugby Africa Barthes Trophy at Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi on April 17, 2022.
What you need to know:
- According to Kenya Rugby Union (KRU), Chipu’s squad of 39 players has been in non-residential training under head coach Curtis Olago.
- The current squad has seven players from the bronze winning side. They are Mathias Osimbo, Felix Chacha, David Mwangi, Stanislaus Shikoli, Laban Kipsang, George Otieno and Brian Makaya.
Former champions Kenya’s Chipu and titleholders Zimbabwe are among eight nations set for the Rugby Africa Barthes Trophy championship slated for April 22 to 30 at the Nyayo National Stadium.
The Barthes Trophy returns to Nairobi for a fourth consecutive time.
The tournament, which serves as the Africa Under-20 Championship, will see the winner get the ticket to this year’s World Rugby Junior Trophy (WRJT), which will also be held in Nairobi in July this year.
This will be the second time Kenya is hosting the WRJT, having hosted the second edition in 2009 at the RFUEA ground where Romania edged out United States of America (USA) 25-13 to lift the trophy. Kenya lost in the battle for bronze against Chile 19-17.
The WRJT is the second tier of the World Rugby tournament structure for under-20 national sides with the top tier being the World Rugby Under-20 Championship.
Chipu, who were the defending champions, lost 16-5 against former champions Namibia in the semi-finals of Barthes Trophy last year as Madagascar succumbed to Zimbabwe 32-3 in the other semi.
Zimbabwe went on to beat Namibia 19-14 in the final to lift the trophy as Kenya, the 2019 and 2021 champions, walloped Madagascar 49-15 to settle for bronze.
Other teams that will be in Nairobi are Uganda, Zambia, Tunisia and the Ivory Coast.
The tournament will be played on a knockout basis with the quarter-finals on April 22 followed by the semi-finals on April 26 and final on April 30.
According to Kenya Rugby Union (KRU), Chipu’s squad of 39 players has been in non-residential training under head coach Curtis Olago.
The current squad has seven players from the bronze winning side. They are Mathias Osimbo, Felix Chacha, David Mwangi, Stanislaus Shikoli, Laban Kipsang, George Otieno and Brian Makaya.
Also called to the team is William Otondi, who is based at Binghamton University, USA.
Namibia, the 2017 and 2018 winners, have declared their squad for the Barthes Trophy.
Namibia have two returning players from last season’s side that lost to Zimbabwe in the final- Ray-Eez Ferris and Owen Hawanga.
