Kenya’s “Chipu” blew up their lead twice before going down to a clinical Spain 43-18 in their nerve-racking World Rugby Under-20 Trophy duel at the Nyayo National Stadium on Thursday.
The eight-try victory saw Spain, who had in their first match crushed Hong Kong China 53-0, go top of the Pool “B” with 10 points, dislodging Samoa on better aggregate.
Samoa, who also have 10 points, survived a scare as they rallied from behind 22-15, touching down two crucial tries in the last 10 minutes to edge out Hong Kong China 30-27.
Hong Kong, who claimed a bonus point from the Samoa loss, are placed third with two points while Kenya, who scored two tries, two penalties and a conversion, dropped to the bottom of the pool with one point.
Kenya, who lost to Samoa34-25 in their first match, will face Hong Kong China in their last pool match on Tuesday next week where Spain and Samoa will clash to decide the pool winner.
Scotland remained flawless in Pool “A” where they whacked United States of America (USA) 40-13 to uphold their top position with 10 points.
However, it’s Uruguay, who set up an explosive Pool “A” decider on Tuesday next week when they beat Zimbabwe 51-14 yesterday, a victory that followed up their 33-31 victory against USA in their opener on Saturday.
Kenya, who trailed Spain 17-15 at the break, had a good game in the first half where they put Spain under pressure with both physical and running game, taking advantage of misfiring Spain’s lineouts and handling errors.
However, Spain came back re-energised, curtailing Kenya’s kicking with good running ball from wing to wing amidst explosive contact showdown. Fullback Gabriel Rocaries scored a brace of tries for Spain as Diego Gonzalez, Fiannian Peart, Garcia Albo, Lopsez de Haro, Eloy De La Pisa Cuadrado managed a try apiece.
Prop Geylord Ngasi and hooker George Otieno scored Chipu’s tries as fly-half Faran Juma did the kicking.
“We played well in the first half but crumbled in the second half with poor exit play and decision making,” said Chipu head coach Curtis Olago.
“It happens when you lack build up matches ahead of such matches.”
However, Olago praised his charges for showing up well in the game as he rallied them ahead of the Hong Kong China duel.
“I can only encourage them to keep on improving, pick the positives from the two matches and play their hearts out in our last pool match,” said Olago.
Spain coach Javier Garrido said that their patience and sticking to their game plan saw them turn around the first half tight play.
“Chipu brought their physicality to the game hence we had to be patient and strike when the opportunity came,” said Garrido. “We won turnovers, kept on running the ball and minimised our mistakes.”
Garrido said they expect a tough duel with Samoa, who beat them last in 2016.
