This archive report was first published on 26 June 2021.
Kenya's Under-20 rugby team, Chipu, kicked off its Barthes Cup title defense with a convincing 50-3 win over Senegal at the Nyayo National Stadium on June 26, 2021.
Matoka Matoka and Tyson Juma led the charge with two tries each, while Reinhard Mwalati, Anderson Oduor, Ibrahim Ayodi, and William Opaka also scored tries. Matoka Matoka added two penalties and two conversions to seal the win.
Although the first half was slow, with only two tries scored by Matoka and Opaka, the second half was a different story. Kenya came out strong, with Ayodi scoring the first try of the half just three minutes in. Matoka converted the try to make it 20-0 in favor of the hosts.
From then on, it was an uphill task for Senegal to contain the rampant hosts. Kenya added more tries through Juma (2), Matoka, Mwalati, and Oduor, while Senegal could only manage a penalty goal through their Captain Ameth Sarr.
Kenya's Captain, John Baraka, attributed the win to the team's hard work in camp, saying, 'We were not settled in the first half. We had to be composed in the second half and we made sure we made the right decisions.'
Kenya's Head Coach, Curtis Olago, was happy with the overall display of his charges, despite a slow start. 'I am happy with the game, a bit of a slow start but we executed in the second half.'
On the other hand, Senegal's Head Coach, Tounkara Bayel, was disappointed with his team's display, citing a litany of errors that cost them the game in the second half.
Senegal will look back at the missed chances and poor discipline as their main undoing but are confident their next outing will be different.
