The Under-20 Barthés Trophy tournament will be hosted in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, from June 24-July 4, Rugby Africa, the continental rugby governing body, announced on Tuesday.
The initial date for the tournament was March 25-April 4, but Rugby Africa had allocated “fall back” dates in case of any disruptions or delays.
Last year, the tournament, which was supposed to take place in April at the same venue, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as was the entire rugby season across the continent.
The announcement came just days after the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) successfully staged the first top-flight rugby match in the country since March 2020.
KRU chairman Oduor Gangla, who spoke to CGTN after the match on Saturday, said the tournament would be one of a number of events staged in the country this year.
“We have a lot of activities planned for this year. We have the Barthés Cup which we are hosting later this year. We have the Africa Gold Cup; I think we have all seen the dates in early July. We will have Safari Sevens, we will have the Sevens circuit,” Gangla said.
The Barthes Trophy is the only national-level junior rugby tournament in Africa, with eight national U20 teams competing for the title.
The winner of the tournament will qualify for the Junior World Trophy tournament, organised by the sport’s global governing body, World Rugby, which is scheduled for September.
