Curtis Olago speaks on why U20 Barthes Cup is crucial

Curtis Olago has explained how the performance of Kenya Under-20s (Chipu) in the upcoming U20 Barthes Cup matches set for Saturday 22 April to 30 at the Nyayo National Stadium, is crucial in determining the style of play for rugby in the country.

Speaking to the media during the launch of the U20 squad, Chipu Head coach Olago noted that his charges were getting out of their comfort zone, and trying a totally different style of play.

“What I can tell you is that we are going to play a bit more dynamic and robust system that is known to us as Kenyans. This tournament will inform a lot of things, it will also inform the pattern that we play going forward because now we are trying a totally different pattern than we’ve played in France and U-20. It is more dynamic. We are getting out of shape a bit. It will inform what we play into the next one,” he revealed.

Ideally, the tournament is likely to define the style of play for Kenya given that the current U20 squad could produce future stars. Last year, Kenya Simbas had a Rugby World Cup qualifying campaign, first through the African qualifiers and then through the repechage tournament.

Most of the players selected had passed through Barthes Cup. In fact, seven out of the 31 players named for the tournament were part of the 2019 squad. They included Samuel Asati, Timothy Omela, Beldad Ogeta, Ian Masheti and Andrew Simiyu. The team has also been littered with great talent in the past like Martin Owilah, Mike Okombe, Edwin Makori, and Geoffrey Okwach who have all shown great potential.

Curtis Olago has coached the team for two seasons now. He has mastered the competitive fog, and this time he aims at shocking continental giants like Namibia. Last year, Kenya Chipu lost against Namibia in the semifinals to see them win bronze after thrashing Madagascar 49-15 in the third-place playoff.

According to Curtis, his charges are ready to take on tough opponents and win the elusive trophy.

“If we were to compare ourselves with Namibia, and Zimbabwe, those are people who started training earlier in September, October, and November. Zimbabwe have gone to like three other tournaments in Canada. But we are ready to take them on, I mean we cannot share our way of playing the game of rugby. We are going to do what we know and what we enjoy,” he disclosed.

Curtis will enjoy the services of three returning players; Kenya Harlequins’ Laban Kipsang, Felix Chacha of Mwamba, and Stanslous Shikoli of Strathmore Leos. He was however hoping that they would get 11 guys from last year’s show piece.

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“We are going a bit green because the dates for cut-offs were changed a bit. Very few people from last year, two or three, we had planned for 11 guys to remain from last year but unfortunately, we did not make the cut-off,” he remarked.

The tournament will bring together top teams in Africa with the winner set to earn a spot in the World Junior Rugby Trophy schedule for Nairobi from 15-30 July 2023. Namibia, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Uganda, Zambia, Tunisia, and Ivory Coast are among the participating teams.