Flashy cars, huge crowds, vibrant fans, and great teams have characterized the Great Rift 10 aside rugby tournament organized annually by the Nakuru RFC club.

The tournament has been iconic and has had fans flocking to the Nakuru Athletics Club (NAC) to enjoy the rugby sport for more than three decades now.

As the 30^th edition of the tournament approaches on May 20,2023, Mtaa Wangu spoke to one of the founders of the Nakuru RFC, Larry Okinyo who introduced the tournament in Nakuru in the year 1991. This is what he shared with us.

The Great 10- aside was the product of the growth of Nakuru RFC which was created in 1985 by Ham Onsando and I.

In 1985 Ham challenged us to start a rugby team in Nakuru since by that time there was no rugby team in Nakuru. At the time I was playing for the Mwamba RFC whereas Ham played for Harlequins.

My first stop was Menengai high school where we built numbers as we trained the boys in rugby.

Later on, we extended to other schools like Nakuru Day, Njoro Boys, and Nakuru Boys to expand the team.

In January 1986 through an Italian Man called Emilio whom we met at Menengai, we got an introduction to a part of the NAC officials, including Peter Prinsloo who was the chairman at the time.

NAC hosted us and allowed us to use their rugby pitch which was previously being used by the West Kenya Oribis, who were white settlers playing rugby in Nakuru but had since dropped the sport.

Through our relationship with NAC, we got a training ground and over the years the club grew in numbers. We grew from the initial two to a team of strong 15 players, who were even able to take the Kenya Cup and Enterprise Cup in 1988.

In 1991 we decided to have a 10 aside tournament which currently goes by the Great Rift 10 aside tournament. Since then, the tournaments have been held at our home grounds and have pulled thousands of rugby fans to Nakuru.

Nakuru RFC has through its 10 aside tournament hosted international teams in the 90s including Uganda’s national rugby team, Zambia and Hibernians.

Although I retired in 1997, I have been coaching rugby. At 61 years old I never miss any of the games being played by our team. It's my pride and joy to see how much we have grown.

Wanjirukinuthia20@gmail.com

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Co-founder of Nakuru RFC goes down memory lane, shares the history of 10-Aside

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Purity Kinuthia