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During last year's semifinal, Namibia stunned Kenya with a 16-5 win.
Kenya Under-20 national rugby team (Chipu) head coach Curtis Olago has revealed they will step up preparations ahead of their semifinal face off against Namibia.
In their qualifying match against Uganda played at the Nyayo National Stadium on Saturday, April 22, Chipu put up a good fight to stun their rivals and secure a 44-20 win.
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19:00 - 22.04.2023
RUGBY Chipu's Barthes Cup hunt off to flyer after win over Uganda
Just as in the 2022 edition Kenya put Uganda to the sword in the tournament opener.
They will now face Namibia in their semifinal match scheduled for Wednesday, April 26.
“We take the positives and going forward, we will go back to the drawing board and see how we can increase our chances of winning over Namibia,” Olago said.
Namibia also pose a threat to Chipu considering they won their qualifying match against Zambia. They played a tactical game to win, which saw them beat Zambia 20-12.
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10:20 - 20.04.2023
RUGBY Chipu charged up in quest to reclaim Barthes Trophy
Last year's event saw Kenya settle for third place behind Namibia who were second as Zimbabwe carried the day.
The Kenyan youngsters will look to change the narrative because, during last year’s edition, Namibia denied Chipu a slot in the final after stunning them 16-5 in the semifinal match.
Olago was also relieved as there were not so many cases of injuries considering the young squad was not engaging in many friendly matches.
“I thank God we have come out of the match with fewer injuries. We haven’t been preparing much by having friendly matches,” he said.
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16:30 - 15.04.2023
RUGBY Why Chipu will have to leave a mark at the 2023 Barthes Trophy
The tournament is scheduled for April 22 to 30 at the Nyayo National Stadium.
Meanwhile, Uganda’s assistant coach, Emmanuel Kantutu, attested that the match was tough despite the youngsters' extensive preparation.
“Unfortunately, we were a bit slow out of the blocks and that impacted our results,” he said.
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