France proved too strong for Kenya in the second senior men’s international between the nations held at the ASK Showground in Nairobi.
The tourists ran in 19 tries in a 108-4 victory, Pia centre Alan Baby crossing four times and fullback Quentin Crunel with his second successive hat trick.
Scrum half Clément Herrero finished with 30 points from two tries and 12 goals. France captain, Clément Boyer, said: “We started poorly but when we got back to our fundamentals, we played very well.”
France coach, Maxime Grésèque, added: “We watched the video of the first game and improved today. Congratulations to the Kenyans, we showed them maximum respect and played a hundred per cent.”
Kenya matched their more experienced opponents in the opening stages, Wycliffe Ratemo crossing to make it 4-4 from a fine chip over the French line but they were then overwhelmed by the waves of French attack.
“We started off well initially,” noted Kenya men’s head coach, Edward Rombo. “But we lost our momentum and then our confidence went down and the French started running the game.
“Our defence failed to keep up, we were competitive for some of the time but we couldn’t maintain it.”
Kenya skipper, Raymond Ekutu, noted: “It was a really hard match for us but a great experience for all the boys.
“It was difficult but we intend to step up and put more initiative into the game. Thank you to France for coming over, we would like more matches against opponents like this.
“From the 10th minute, we didn’t really have the ball in the first half and when we did have it in the second half, they defended really well.”
New Caledonian born forward, Hnaloan Budden, added his second Test cap, contributing significantly to the French’s dominance over the home team.
KENYA 4
Anderson Adour, Ramadhan Masete, Wycliffe Ratemo, Denish Ndinya, Edwin Watulo, Joseph Nun, Saidi Abdallah, Sollo Mbugua, Kelly Omari, Malcom Busury Paul Seda, Evans Omondi, Raymond Ekutu. Subs: Michael Karani, Frank Awuor, Victor Ndungu, James Odhiambo
Try: Ratemo (7); Goals: Abdallah 0/1
FRANCE 108
Quentin Crunel, Nittin Pedrero, Maxime Grosson, Alan Baby, Mathieu Pons, Baptiste Fabre, Clément Herrero, Bastien Scimone, Yacine Ben Abdeslem, Clément Boyer, Corentin Le Cam, Hnaloan Budden, Guillermo Aispuro-Bichet. Subs: Mathias Marty, Paolo Dall’Asta, Kalic Skoumdri, Nolan Lopez-Buttignol
Tries: Crunel (2, 32, 55), Pedrero (13, 28), Le Cam (16, 40, 44), Herrero (20,64), Aispuro-Bichet (21), Baby (24, 30, 52, 70), Dall’Asta (60, 75), Ben Abdeslem (66), Baptiste Fabre (80); Goals: Fabre 4/4, Herrero 12/15
Half time: 4-54
Referee: Stephane Vincent
