The Kenyan rugby fraternity and Kenyans on Twitter are mourning the death of a star Rugby player Tony Onyango.
KCB Rugby Club winger Tony Onyango who featured for Kenya Sevens and Kenya 15s passed away on Tuesday (03.03.20) after collapsing at his house in Ngong after training, Kenya Rugby Union confirms.
“We join the entire Kenyan rugby fraternity in mourning Tony Onyango Opondo of KCB Rugby Club who passed away on Tuesday 3 March 2020. May God grant his family, friends, teammates and colleagues strength during this trying time. Rest In Peace Tony,” Kenya Rugby Union mourned.
Onyango represented Kenya national teams at all levels in the Under 19’s Chipu during the Africa Under-19 Championship in Abidjan, Ivory Coast before earning a call up to the Kenya 15s team in 2012 under the then tutelage of Mike ‘Tank’ Otieno, featuring in the Elgon Cup against Uganda.
He then became a regular under Jerome Paarwater, playing for the Simbas until 2018 at the Rugby World Cup Repechage tournament in Marseille, France.
In the Kenya Sevens, Onyango played during the 2013/14 and 2014/15 World Series seasons under Paul Treu and Felix ‘Totty’ Ochieng.
He was also part of the East African Elgon Warriors that played against England Counties in Kampala and Nairobi in 2012.
An alumnus of Maseno School, Tony first played for Impala Saracens before joining Strathmore Leos and was part of the Leos squad that reached the 2012/13 Kenya Cup Final.
He moved to Homeboyz where he won the 2016 National Sevens Circuit before moving to KCB where he was part of the squad that beat Kabras 23-15 in last season’s Kenya Cup final in Kakamega.
Kenyans on Twitter eulogized Tony as a lion who was a force to be reckoned with in the world of Rugby. Rugby fanatics like Stephen Musyoka and Sir Alexas, Sports journalists Eric Njiru and Carol Radull, as well as personalities such as Raila Junior, have also taken to social media to send their condolences.
The sportsman leaves behind a wife and son.
This article was first published by Capital Sports.
