Chipu claim bronze in Barthes Cup after overcoming Madagascar
The Kenya national U20 rugby 15s side, Chipu claimed bronze in the 2022 Barthes Cup after thrashing Madagascar 49-15 in the third-place match played under light showers at the Nyayo National Stadium, Nairobi.
Having surrendered their title defence in the defeat to Namibia, Chipu came into the Sunday afternoon match focused on the job and got matters underway as soon as the clock ticked for kick-off.
Chipu got over the whitewash for the first time in the third minute when John Baraka got clear for the first try of the day. A successful conversion took the scores to 7-0. A second try and conversion extended Kenya’s lead to 14-0.
The islanders got their first points of the day via a penalty but that was quickly replied by Tony Oketch’s penalty which extended Chipu’s lead to 17-3 another try and penalty further took matters out of Madagascar’s hands and when David Mwangi landed another try for the homeboys, it was almost game over. Madagascar got their first try of the game just before the breather and when the two sides raced to the dugout, it was 30-10 in favour of Curtis Olago’s Chipu.
Madagascar got matters underway in the second half, earning a try that would see them half the scores to 30-15. A tighter Kenyan defence plus a sleek forward ensured that Kenya won bronze and at least a podium finish in this year's edition.
Earlier on in the day, Tunisia beat Uganda 24-11 in the 5th place playoff. The 7th place playoff saw Zambia beat Cote D’Ivoire 22-8.
The Tunisians playing some beautiful rugby kicked off matters with a try and conversion for a 7-0 lead. Mohammed Riahi’s opening try was successfully converted by Ilyes Ayari but Uganda skipper Daniel Okello scored a penalty to give them their first points of the day just before the break.
Okello drilled home a second penalty in the second half to reduce the deficit to one point but the Tunisians scored three consecutive tries to take their scores to 24-6 but Kevin Ampaire managed to score Uganda’s only try that got the game to a respectable 24-11 fulltime score, leaving Uganda to settle for 6th place behind Tunisia.
In the 7/8th playoff, Zambia got their first win of the tournament as they defeated Cote D’Ivoire 22-8 to finish in 7th position ahead of their opponents who finished bottom of the pile in this year’s tourney.
Both teams came into their final clash without a victory in the tournament after Cote d’Ivoire lost to Namibia and Uganda while Zambia lost against Madagascar and Tunisia with both sides looking for positives to bring their campaigns to an end.
Zambia ended up plundering their maiden win as they came from behind to stage the victory over the Ivorians who finished without a win in their three matches.
