The U20 Barthés Trophy competition has officially kicked off in Nairobi’s Nyayo National Stadium. The tournament will run until 4th July, 2021. The Senegalese team has arrived in Nairobi and begun training at Nairobi’s Brookhouse School, in preparation of their matches.
The Senegalese squad finished third in the last edition of the tournament held at Nairobi’s KCB Sports Club in 2019.
Meanwhile, competing team Namibia will no longer be participating due to the increased number of COVID-19 cases in the country. Madagascar has also been hit hard by surging numbers of COVID-19 in the country, jeopardizing their team’s participation in the tournament.
Speaking on the effects of the pandemic on the tournament, Rugby Africa’s President, Mr. Khaled Babbou, said, “Despite the challenging backdrop of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, the Kenya Rugby Union has gone out of its way to make sure the U20 Barthés Trophy will be hosted successfully. For this, we at Rugby Africa are very grateful and we also highly value the support of the Kenyan local authorities. This should have been a bigger event with 4 teams competing for the African Champion title but nevertheless we are eager to see the young boys returning on the field of play. They represent the future of African rugby and this is an exciting opportunity for them.”
Andrew Owor, Rugby Africa Vice President added, “As much as we are keen and excited to host our young players in the U20 competition, we know that precautions need to be taken to protect the players in their home countries, and we respect the decision of local authorities in managing the pandemic. The tournament is not cancelled and more information and details on the program will be shared in due time.”
The U20 Barthés Trophy is the only junior tournament in Africa where generally eight national U20 teams compete for the title. It is held on an annual basis and the winners of the competition earn the right to represent the African continent at the World Rugby Junior Trophy. The tournament is sponsored by the Société Générale.
In 2019, Kenya hosted and won the competition, defeating the then champions Namibia 21-18. The team went on to finish 6th at that year’s World Rugby Junior Trophy tournament in Brazil.
In early 2020, Rugby Africa granted Barthes Trophy hosting rights to the Kenya Rugby Union for a 3-year period until 2022. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the competition was cancelled in 2020. At the time competing teams included Kenya, Namibia, Senegal, Madagascar, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Côte d’Ivoire, Zambia.
This year’s U20 Barthés Trophy, will be a good preparation for Kenya who automatically qualify. Kenya will also host the 2022 Junior World Rugby Trophy at Nairobi’s Nyayo National Stadium.