A dominant Kenya Under-20 rugby team thrashed Tunisia 56-17 to keep their Barthes Cup hopes alive in Harare, Zimbabwe on Wednesday.
Tunisia dominated possession early on, pinning Chipu in their 22 and inevitably scoring an unconverted try in the fourth minute to take a 5-0 lead.
Chipu’s first venture into Tunisian territory resulted in a five-meter scrum, with Iddo Kuta powering over to tie the score. James Olela’s successful conversion gave Chipu a 7-5 lead after 11 minutes of play.
Following the frenetic start, the pace of the match eased off, with Tunisia struggling to find any rhythm and committing another unforced error as Chipu advanced into their opponents’ half.
Chipu were forced into an early injury substitution, with Philip Okeyo replacing Jackson Siketi after 21 minutes of play, but continued to drive forward.
Michael Wamalwa broke through three defenders to score Chipu’s second try. Olela’s successful conversion extended their lead to 14-5 with 13 minutes remaining in the half.
Tunisia were then reduced to 14 men following Wassim Ifaoui’s yellow card. Alvin Khavoli soon touched down for Chipu’s third try as Olela missed the ensuing conversion with the scoreboard reading 19-5 after 33 minutes of play.
Khavoli soon landed his brace, latching on the bounce from Nathan Tsindoli’s chip downfield with Olela converting to put Chipu 26-5 ahead heading into the half-time interval.
On resumption, Wamalwa scored his second try but Olela again missed the conversion as Chipu went 31-5 up against Tunisia.
Olela soon added a penalty to take Chipu 34-5 up before Bramwel Anekea went over from the rolling maul. Olela added the extras to take the score to 41-5 after 52 minutes.
Tunisia fought back and scored a try after catching the Kenyan defence asleep and reduced the margin to 41-12.
Kenya were then reduced to 14 men when Brian Kiptanui was sent off for a high tackle. However, this mattered less for Chipu with Willy Tino and Brian Shile scoring try a piece to close out the win.
