Olago pinpoints areas of weakness in U20 Trophy opener against Samoa

Kenya Chipu head coach Curtis Olago has called on the national junior rugby 15s side Kenya Chipu to improve their ball retention ability if they are to get the desired results in the 2023 World Rugby U20 Trophy that kicked off on Saturday 15 July at the Nyayo National Stadium.

In their opening Group B match, two quick tries from captain John Mata Samuelu and a double from winger William Hunt ensured former U20 Trophy champions Samoa opened their 2023 challenge with a win against the hosts to maintain their near-perfect record in the tournament that has seen them lose only once in the 2018 final after winning the 2011 and 2016 editions.

Speaking after the game, Olago revealed his disappointment in the team not getting upto scratch with loss of possession leading to the foundations of their defeat against a Samoan side who picked up four yellow cards to play 40 minutes with a numerical disadvantage.

“We lost the game in the first ten minutes of the first half. We did not play according to plan. We went out of script and allowed Samoa to dominate the ball. We must learn to use the ball more efficiently. We wanted to control the pace of the game by having the ball but we did not have it most of the time. Our plan was to have the ball, but we kept on losing it which was not good enough,” Olago said.

Chipu captain Michael Wamalwa commended his side for putting up the spirited fight against the two time winners as he promised the team would work on their shortcomings.

“The boys tried there all. We have done what we can, played our hearts out but unfortunately, the result did not go how we wanted. We have to go back to the drawing board and see what will happen,” he added.

Junior World Rugby: Spirited Chipu fall to Samoa in opener

The youngsters will have their work cut out when they face a Spain side who got their campaign off to a blistering start with a 58-0 thumping win over Hong Kong China.

In a classic game of two halves, Scotland ran out 64-33 winners over Zimbabwe in the opening game of the tournament, but a five-try second-half burst from the Junior Sables ensured it wasn't all plain sailing for the Scots.

The third match was a much cagier affair, with Uruguay edging the battle of the former champions against USA 33-31, thanks to a late try from Dante Soto and the accurate boot of Juan Carlos Canessa.

Spain then wrapped up the opening day's action with a 53-0 defeat of Hong Kong China with Eloy de la Pisa Cuadrado and Gabriel Rocaries both dotting down twice to take Los Leones U20 to the top of Pool B.

The action continues on Thursday, 20 July when the Pool B match between Samoa and Hong Kong China will open proceedings at 1000EAT

Uruguay then take on Zimbabwe at 1200 before the other Pool A match between Scotland at USA at 1400. Spain and hosts Kenya play in the final match of round two at 1600EAT.