Coach Simon Jawichre has not made any changes to Chipu, the Kenya U20 squad that won the Rugby Africa U20 Barthes Trophy in April, as they head out to Scotland for the World Rugby Junior Trophy taking place from 2nd to 17th July 2024.
The squad, which features nine returning players from the 2023 World Rugby Junior Trophy hosted in Nairobi, namely Geylord Ngasi, Andycole Omolo, Iddo Kuta, Wycliffe Ogutu, Nathan Tsindoli, Patrick Wainaina, Faran Juma, Michael Wamalwa, and James Olela, will depart for Scotland on Thursday, 27th June 2024.
Commenting on the team’s preparations, Head Coach Simon Jawichre said, “Looking back since the Barthes Trophy, we really wanted our guys to play in the (Rugby) Super Series… a few made it there… quite a number trained without playing. We’ve had two camps after the Super Series… one on our own, but we actually had the opportunity to face off with KCB as they were training for the Enterprise Cup. The second week we put ourselves up against the Simbas (the Kenya men’s fifteens senior team) where we had joint sessions together.”
“These sessions helped our boys… it brought up to speed, especially on the mental side of things. When I look at them physically, there’s a few niggly things from the Super Series, but all coming in good, they’re coming into shape. The squad going is basically pegged on what we had in Harare. We just wanted to enhance those who were down in one area or another, and we focused on just giving them clarity and getting their roles right. To all our stakeholders, KRU, our families, supporters near and wide, pray for us… keep us in prayer and support us in whichever other way you can,” added Jawichre.
Chipu is in Pool B of the tournament and will start their campaign against Uruguay on Thursday, 2nd July, and Netherlands on Sunday, 7th July. They will complete their group fixtures with a match against the USA on Friday, 12th July.
This is Chipu’s fourth appearance at the tournament, having previously featured in 2009 (Nairobi), 2019 (Brazil), and 2023 (Nairobi).
The winner of this tournament qualifies for the 2025 World Rugby Junior Championship.
Chipu Squad | World Rugby Junior Trophy 2024 | Jul 2-17 | Edinburgh, Scotland
Darrel Oluoch, Ian Nyandusi, Bramwel Mate, Brian Shile, Geylord Ngasi, Hafidh Mohammed, Eugene Etali, Cleyn Okumbi, Andycole Omolo, Eddy Otieno, Iddo Kuta, Wycliffe Ogutu, Nathan Tsindoli, Willy Tino, Edmond Omondi, Patrick Wainaina, Benedict Muiruri, Faran Juma, Philip Okeyo, Alvin Khavoli, Brian Kiptoo, Dennis Ndayala, Kipchirchir Bett, Elvis Otete, Eugene Ojiambo, Jackson Siketi, Michael Wamalwa, James Olela
NON TRAVELLING RESERVES: Jeremy Namiti, John Asega, Jeff Maina, Rogers Omanyi
MANAGEMENT: Simon Jawichre (Head Coach), Qondani Katywa (Assistant Coach), Kenny Andola (Assistant Coach), Williams Motto (Strength & Conditioning Coach), Philip Wamae (Team Manager), Wacera Githua (Assistant Team Manager), Aysha Omar (Team Doctor), Samuel Ochieng (Physio)
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