Kenya Simbas on Sunday bowed out of the 2027 Rugby World Cup contention after losing to Zimbabwe 29-23 in a tight Rugby Africa Cup semifinal played at Mandela National Stadium in Uganda.
The winner of the semis was bound to play Namibia in the final this coming weekend, a final that would determine who from Africa will join defending champions South Africa at the 2027 Rugby World Cup to be hosted in Australia.
However, a second half collapse from the Simbas, who led 18-13 at the break, saw Zimbabwe capitalize on the numerous Kenyan mistakes to sail through to the finals.
Despite starting the match on Zimbabwean territory with big carries, Kenya found themselves on the back foot when Edward Sigauke found a charging Brandon Mudzekenyedzi who sprinted to ground a left corner post try for a 5-0 lead. Prior missed the conversion.
Simbas responded immediately from kick off after reclaiming possession and forcing a penalty that resulted to a line out set piece that Eugene Sifuna grounded to tie the scores at 5-5 after missed conversion by Jone Kubu.
Prior corrected his earlier conversion miss with a successful penalty 10 yards away to give Zimbabwe a 8-5 lead before Kenya were reduced to 14 men when Griffin Chao was sent to the sin bin for a high tackle.
Despite being a man down, Simbas dominated territory again and forced a penalty, this time Kubu also rectifying his earlier miss by splitting the posts with a three pointer to tie the scorers at 8-8 in the 20th minute.
Zimbabwe regained their lead again, this time through their captain Hilton Mudariki who grounded another unconverted corner post try for a 13-8 lead.
Kubu reduced the gap to 13-11 with his second successful penalty, points that slightly eased the pressure off Kenya. Prior had an opportunity to restore the South African’s five-point advantage but saw his 25-yard attempt sail wide.
Kubu also followed with a 35-yard penalty miss of his own as Zimbabwe maintained their two-point advantage.
However, Chao who had returned from the sin bin ensured Kenya will go to the break ahead after picking up a loose ball from the half way line and sprinting to the try box to score and give Simbas an 18-13 half time lead with Kubu adding the extras.
In the final half, it took 24 minutes of pull, push and runs to get the first man over the whitewash as Zimbabwe recaptured their two-point advantage when Dylan Utete broke free from the Simbas baseline defense to score. Prior converted for a 20-18 lead.
Prior followed his conversion with a clever drop goal to stretch Zimbabwe to a 23-18 lead. Two big penalties by Prior stretched the South African outfits lead to 29-18, a lead that left Kenyan fans hopeless with minutes fast trickling down.
A late try by Teddy Akala could not save Kenya’s blushes as Zimbabwe won 29-23 and book a spot in the final.
Zimbabwe will now face Namibia for the sole ticket to the 2027 Rugby World Cup.