dyton mupawaenda
Tinashe Kusema-Zimpapers Sports Hub
Zim Under-20 . . . . . . . . . . . . (7) 20
Kenya Under-20 . . . . . . . . .(11) 21
ZIMBABWE Junior Sables coach Shaun De Souza has sent an urgent appeal to his paymasters at the Zimbabwe Rugby Union, pleading for more time and better preparations for future Barthes Trophy competitions.
This was De Souza’s main message shortly after watching his charges surrender a last-minute penalty and suffer a heart-breaking 21-20 defeat to rivals Kenya in their final Barthes Trophy match at Old Hararians Sports Club yesterday.
“The tournament went as well as can be expected,” said De Souza.
“It goes to show that all the teams are putting in the time; Namibia went to the Blue Bulls franchise and played a lot of games, and Kenya did a lot of stuff behind the scenes.
“Unfortunately, we were not given that opportunity. We played the league instead, and we have paid for it now.
“We may need to go back to the drawing board and revisit our calendar,” he said.
In retrospect, it was a game Zimbabwe needed and could have won had it not been for another sluggish start, which once again proved to be their undoing.
Javan Okwaro proved to be the difference-maker in both the first half and the match overall, kicking Kenya to victory.
The East African winger contributed 11 points during a dominant first half for Kenya, scoring a try and two penalties to give his side an 11-7 lead going into the breather.
Zimbabwe’s only response came from a Thabani Ndlovu try and a PK Manyakara conversion.
Much like they have throughout this particularly disappointing Barthes Trophy edition, Zimbabwe started slowly and had to rely on a second-half comeback.
It didn’t work against Namibia during their 41-21 defeat, and it didn’t work against Kenya either.
Zimbabwe did rally through tries from skipper Emmanuel Gabi and Tadiwanashe Maradze, as well as a penalty from Tinotenda Chinyadze.
But it proved to be a case of too little, too late, as Kenya had already done enough to secure victory.
The East Africans executed a game-defining strategy: kick their way to victory and it worked.
Kenya brought in three specialist kickers Okwaro, Faran Mutemi, and Waiyaiki Kinyua with coach Simon Jawichre anticipating a tight contest and seeking an extra edge.
Kenya responded to Zimbabwe’s second-half surge with a combination of tight defence, a try from Daniel Kipchirchir, and John Asega, plus another penalty from Okwaro.
“We are so delighted with the result,” said Jawichre.
“We made too many errors at times and struggled with discipline, but I’m glad our kicking strategy worked.
“We had as many as three kickers in the team, and the one who took the last, game-winning kick was a last-minute addition.
“It was about putting points on the board and keeping the game moving because we knew it would be tight,” he said.
Earlier, Namibia were crowned the 2025 Barthes Trophy champions after winning all three of their matches completing the campaign with a convincing 81-7 win over Tunisia.
The feat saw the Southern Africans equal Kenya’s record of three titles in the Rugby Africa Under-20 Championship.
Namibia dominated bottom-placed Tunisia with a 13-try rout.
Standout performances came from left-winger Jurgen-David Meyer and outside-centre Petrus Tromp, who each scored hat-tricks, while lock JP Campbell added a brace to cap off a commanding display at Old Hararians Sports Club.
Lock Mohamed Yassine Dimassi scored Tunisia’s consolation try.
Namibia’s triumph marks their return to the top of Africa’s premier youth rugby competition after a seven-year drought, having previously won the inaugural Barthes Trophy titles in 2017 and 2018.
Kenya were champions in 2019, 2021, and 2024, while Zimbabwe lifted back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023.
Online Reporter