NAIROBI, Kenya, August 7, 2026 – National Under 20 rugby team began their Barthes Cup campaign on a high, winning 35-23 against the Junior Sables of Zimbabwe in Kampala, Uganda on Friday afternoon.
Faran Juma got Chipu going with a penalty in the early stages of the tie before the southern africans levelled the scores soon after with a penalty of their own.
A second successive penalty by Juma made it 6-3 before Brian Kiptanui extended the advantage with the first try of the game.
Kabras Sugar youngster Rayvon Ambale then went over the white chalk for a 11-3 lead before the Zimbabweans halved the deficit with another penalty of their own.
Another Kabras youngster, Michael Olukusi, then extended the advantage to 21-6, with a subsequent successful conversion for a healthy lead heading into the interval.
The script was more of the same on resumption of play, the battle mostly concentrated in the centre of pitch.
Jibril Joseph soon rose to the occasion for Simon Jawichre’s charges, going over the whitewash to extend their advantage.
The Sables, however, began to reap dividends from their aggressive play and were rewarded with two tries in quick succession, although their conversions flew wide of the posts.
However, that was as far as their attempted comeback could go; Dennis Ndayala’s try with 10 minutes to go proved to be the final nail in the Sables’ coffin.
Juma then added the extras for a big win for the Chipu as they shift their focus to their next ties, against defending champions Namibia on Tuesday.
