While in residential camp, the 1976 University of Nairobi rugby squad for the East Africa University games watched the 1974 Hollywood blockbuster “The Longest Yard”. Starring Burt Reynolds as Paul Crewe, the movie was about a convicted American Football player who despite having been asked by the wardens to throw the game in return for an early release, trained and led his fellow convicts towa...

Don’t let the dismal showing fool you, Mean Machine has played some champagne rugby at discrete intervals this year and some sparkling individual efforts have been witnessed. The issue of what goes wrong is for another fora but here is the pick of 2008. Mwiti Joel Kobia- the rotund front rower has proved that his utility goes beyond just being a prop and has steadied the ship in the absence...

It is three o’clock on a Wednesday afternoon and I am calling “Emman” to set up an appointment. I have postponed our meeting twice before and I feel extremely embarrassed as I make this call. After five rings Emman picks up his phone and sounds truly happy to hear my voice. He engages me in a discussion on the recently concluded Safari Sevens tournament and for a moment I forget my reason fo...