Kenya’s U20 men’s national team, Chipu, started their World Rugby U20 Trophy campaign with a 34-25 defeat to Samoa in Pool B action at the Nyayo National Stadium on Saturday 15 July 2023.

They opened the scoring when rangy second-row Stanslas Shikoli powered over the corner on their first entry into Samoa’s 22, after they had soaked up 10 minutes of early pressure at the other end of the pitch.

Their lead, however, did not last long. Afa Moleli picked up a loose ball after his pack had shoved Kenya off the ball in a scrum, fed Paul Stanley out of the tackle and he raced clear to the corner. Moleli missed the conversion, but added a penalty soon after to give Samoa the lead.

Kenya were being driven back at the scrum, but gave as good as they got in the loose. As the clock ticked past the half-hour mark another attack was turned over and Samoa demonstrated how dangerous they were on transition. It was simple, devastating rugby. A break, and a footrace to the line pulled up just short. Recycled, the ball went through the hands, before a long pass to Hunt, who dived – spectacularly – over.

An early second-half penalty for Kenya’s Eddy Murage appeared to kick Junior Manu Samoa up a gear. Stanley, back in the fray after a yellow card, ripped through the Chipu defence and deep into their 22. A quick penalty later and second-row Samuelu crashed over from short range. He added a second, from a similar distance, a few minutes later to extend Samoa’s lead.

It looked as if that would open the floodgates. But Kenya weren’t done and were still causing problems with their speed in the loose. Then, just after the hour, they played against type, patiently phasing their way to Samoa’s line, and Wicklife Otieno flopped over from close range after Samoan back-row Benjamin Faavave was yellow carded.

There was time left for more excitement from the Nairobi crowd as livewire Kenya gave the tiring Samoans – who picked up four yellow cards to play 40 minutes with a numerical disadvantage – the runaround. 

With 74 minutes on the clock, Hunt skirted round three defenders for his second as he took a scenic route to the try-line from inside his own half, and proved that there’s much more to them than power alone. It ended the match as a contest. 

But Kenya had the final say, mauling over for a deserved pack score from a five-metre lineout with just a couple of minutes remaining, before Raphael Wanga benefited from a Samoa error to score the final try.