Barthes Trophy 2022: Defending champions Kenya Chipu knocked out by resolute Namibia in tense semifinal

The 2022 edition of the continental U20 Barthes Trophy will have a newly crowned champion.

That is after hosts and two-time back-to-back winners Kenya Chipu were knocked out of main cup contention in the semifinal stage by resolute tournament favorites Namibia who got their revenge over a Chipu side that beat them in the 2019 final.

In the first last four match staged at the Nyayo National Stadium on Wednesday afternoon, the highly tactical Namibians outwitted the Kenyans as they walked home with a 16-5 victory that guaranteed them a ticket to the final where they will face the winners between Zimbabwe and Madagascar with Kenya falling to the 3/4th playoff final.

In the highly physical encounter, the Namibians took a 6-0 into the halftime break after converting two penalties awarded to them following infringements.

However, that had not been a true reflection of the half. After a shaky opening ten minutes, it is Kenya who dominated through the entire clash but getting points on the scoreboard just proved to be an arduous task as the Namibian defense stood tall time and again in denying the Curtis Olago coached side.

On the few times they managed to evade the defense, two costly knock-on errors just inches from the try line forced the team to retreat and give Namibia some sweet breathing space.

Upon second half's resumption, Chipu who normally go into second gear at that moment were pegged when Niel Holtzhausen stole a Kenyan pass before running on his own all the way in touching down the game's only try. Rian Grove, who scored the two penalties, stepped up again to convert and send Namibia to a 13-0 lead.

Despite Kenya making changes that had a notable effect, the team failed to make any mark on the scoreboard as Samuel Mwaura missed two penalty attempts that would have given Kenya the much-needed jumpstart.

Those inefficiencies were punished by the Namibians who stretched their lead to 16-0 as Grove converted his third penalty.

With only four minutes left, Joseph Ayiro showed his pace as Chipu finally managed to breach the Namibian line for their first try of the game which was not converted.

Despite being a welcome relief, the effort proved just too little too late as the Namibians sealed the 16-5 win that knocked out the defending champions.