Familiar foes stand in Chipu's path as they eye Barthes Trophy final slot

Kenya will take on familiar foes Namibia in Rugby Africa U20 Barthes Trophy semi-final seeking to avenge last year’s loss with eyes on the title they last won in 2021.

Chipu, as the team is popularly known, beat neighbours Uganda 44-20 on Sunday to book a place in Wednesday’s semi-final and can look forward to a daunting task against Namibia who beat them 16-5 at the same stage last year to deny them a ticket to the final.

Kenya, however, look more prepared this time round given their display so far after polishing up some of the things that cost them the win last year such as lineouts which proved problematic in the past.

Curtis Olago has only four players from the Class of 2022 with the rest being relative novices but there is a lot at stake given the Barthes Trophy is the Africa U20 championship and also serves as the qualification tournament for the World Rugby U20 Trophy which this year will be played in Nairobi from 15-30 July.

A place in the global tournament on home soil will, therefore, act as extra motivation for Chipu who should be wary of Namibia who edged out Zambia 20-12 in the quarter-final.

If they make the final, Kenya will take on either holders Zimbabwe or Tunisia who will meet in the other semi-final on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe made their intentions known when they hammered Cote d’ Ivoire 55-0 in the last eight while Tunisia made light work of Madagascar, runners up in 2021 and semi-finalists in 2022, by handing them a 50-16 defeat.