The Kenya national U20 rugby team, Chipu, secured a spot in the semifinals of the Rugby Africa Barthes Trophy after a convincing 44-20 win over Uganda at the Nyayo National Stadium on Saturday evening.
Chipu dominated the game right from the start, with a near miss in the opening minutes. The hosts soon broke the deadlock with a try in the fifth minute, but missed the conversion, taking the score to 5-0.
Uganda equalized shortly after when Kenya made a slight error. However, Patrick Wainaina restored the Kenyan lead with a superb try in the seventeenth minute, making it 10-5.
Kenya continued to showcase their attacking prowess, adding two more tries to stretch their lead to 15-5. Despite Uganda’s efforts to resist, they were unable to contain Chipu’s creativity.
Chipu’s impressive display in the quarterfinals against their arch-rivals continued in this match. They finished third in last year’s edition and were determined to go all the way this time around.
Skipper Laban Kipsang’ added to Kenya’s tally with a spectacular try, which was converted, making it 22-5. Uganda managed to score from a penalty, bringing their score to 8, but Kenya added one more try before halftime.
The hosts sealed their victory in the second half, winning the game 44-20 in a thrilling match.
In other matches, defending champions Zimbabwe secured their spot in the semifinals with a 55-0 win over Cote D’Ivoire.
Namibia defeated Zambia 20-12, while Tunisia beat Madagascar 52-16 to also book their place in the next round.
