The Africa Under-20 tournament has been moved away from the RFUEA grounds to KCB’s Ruaraka Sports Club, Kenya Rugby Union has announced.
The RFUEA playing surface is in poor condition and the union has opted to move it away after an assessment on Tuesday.
The event will be a four-nation tournament with Kenya opening their campaign against Tunisia on April 4. Champions Namibia will take on Senegal in the opening match on the same day. The winners of the semi-final matches advance to the final slated for April 7 at the same venue.
The winner will qualify for the 2019 Junior World Rugby Trophy to be held in Brazil.
The Kenyan team, under the tutelage of head coach Paul Odera, has stepped up preparations for the event as it seeks to qualify for the very first time.
“Playing at home will give us an advantage we need to make count in the tournament,” Odera said.
He said his side will take one match at a time and will not underestimate Tunisia in their opening match.
“Some of the Tunisian players play in France, and they have very big forwards; we must match them up front and deny them possession and with our skilful backs to create opportunities to score tries and win the match,” the coach added.
Odera called on enthusiasts to turn up in large numbers and cheer the team to victory.
“All the fans should come and support us in our two matches and create history for the country by qualifying for the Junior Rugby World Cup. Kenya has lost the last two finals to Namibia going down 66-24 in 2017 and 37-16 last year.
