Chipu squad to Barthes Cup in Zimbabwe named
The tournament will be held at the Old Hararians Sports Club in Harare with the best of Africa’s under-20 rugby talent on show
Kenya Chipu is keen to retain their title with the Rugby Africa 2025 Barthes Cup that will be held incidentally in Zimbabwe who lost 28-13 last year in the finals to the Kenya U20 side.
A 28-man squad has been named by Head Coach Simon Jawichre following what had been an intense three months of residential training and three camps. The travelling party will also be accompanied by Phillip Wamae as the Team Manager and Simon Ochieng as Physiotherapist.
The tournament that runs from April 17-28 will be held at the Old Hararians Sports Club in Harare with the best of Africa’s under-20 rugby talent on show.
Speaking to the press after the team naming, Jawichre admitted it was a difficult task to prepare the boys and work on documentation but ultimately all was sorted and they were raring to go.
“We are well balanced in terms of skills and physical preparedness. There was a bit of drag in paperwork but that was sorted so we are good to go. We must go in with belief and readiness because we have a trophy to defend. We have the weight of expectations but we have spoken as a group on how mentally to get going.”
““We are going into this tournament as defending champions. Our target is to create history,” he affirmed while also acknowledging the tough road that lies ahead.
The squad features a mix of fresh faces and returning players, with eight members retained from last year’s successful campaign. Notably absent is Jackson Siketi, who misses out due to injury. The team will be facing off against Tunisia on April 19 at 1:00 pm in their first game of the tournament. They play their second game against Namibia on the 23rd before finishing off against hosts Zimbabwe on April 27.
The playing unit includes Darrel Roy ,Faran Juma, Eugene Mutanda, Waiyaki Kinyua, Eddy Otieno, Benadict Muiruri, Brian Kiptanui, Daniel Kipchirchir, Dennis Ndayala, Brian Achacha and Terrence Ogutu.
Others in the squad are Almasi Wachira, Michael Muriithi, Erick Juma, Javan Okwaro, Josephat Njue, Leon Onduso, Simon Buluku, Elias Onyango, Justine Ng’ombe, Willison Tonya, Glacious Owino, Brian Oyugi, John Asega, Tony Rebel, RoyMark Maruti, Emmanuel Adoyo and Branton Lusisa.
Meanwhile, Kenya 7s team has Received Ksh 1,350,000 Bonus from sponsors SportPesa after an impressive performance in the Singapore 7s where they lost 21-12 to Fiji in the final. Each player is to receive KSh 75,000. Coaching and other support staff will also receive Ksh 75,000.
At the same time, Shujaa have been nominated for the 2024 Sports Personality of the Year Awards that will be held this evening at KICC. The 7s team had a great run in 2024, fighting in the Challenger Series, getting promoted to HSBC top tier.
