Defending champions Kenya Under 20 Chipu has not reached the right fitness levels required to successfully defend the Barthés Under 20 Trophy set for Nyayo National Stadium from June 24 to July 3.
With only 3 weeks to the kickoff of the tournament, tactician Curtis Olago says the squad will ultimately attain the required fitness in two weeks and therefore chances are high they could retain the title for the second year running.
Olago said that the players have so far achieved forty percent fitness levels and that players were steadily improving by the day in their training sessions.
The players had a tough time this season to keep up with fitness especially when sports activities in the country had been indefinitely suspended in the country due to rise of Covid 19 cases and this forced the players to halt their normal training routine.
A 35 man squad was selected from different clubs across the country and the tactician said most of them are rookies who are steadily improving by the day in their training sessions.
Four countries in hosts and defending champions Kenya, Namibia, Senegal and Madagascar have confirmed travelling to Nairobi to battle for the title in a round-robin series to decide the winner.
Earlier, it had attracted eight countries with the addition of Zimbabwe, Tunisia, Algeria and Uganda but Rugby Africa reduced the number of participants to four owing to the Coronavirus pandemic.
In 2019, Kenya hosted and won the title defeating the then champions, Namibia, 21-18. Kenya went on to finish sixth at the World Rugby Junior Trophy in Brazil the same year.
Despite the minor setback experienced by the players on fitness issues head coach Curtis Olago remains confident that Chipu will put up an outstanding performance in this year's edition.