Top Kenyan rugby player Tony Onyango collapses and dies

Top Kenyan rugby player Tony Onyango collapses and dies

KCB RFC player Tony Onyango is dead.

Onyango collapsed and died at his Ngong residence on Tuesday night. His body has been moved to Umash Funeral Home.

The tough-tackling player was part of the KCB squad that trained yesterday ahead of the Kenya Cup playoffs set for this weekend.

Kenya Rugby Union led the rugby fraternity in paying tribute to the departed.

“We join the entire Kenyan rugby fraternity in mourning Tony Onyango Opondo of KCB Rugby Club who passed away on Tuesday 3 March 2020,”the Union said.

Onyango played for the Kenya national team across all representative levels, earning  his first Simba call up under Michael Tank Otieno during the Elgon Cup against Uganda in April 2012 and became a regular under Jerome Paarwater, playing for the Simbas upto 2018 at the Rugby World Cup Repechage tournament in Marseille, France.

He was also in the Kenya Sevens team during the 2014/15 World Series season under Paul Treu.

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.

Tributes came thick and fast with Kenyans taking to Twitter to express their grief describing him as ‘lionhearted’.

— MeanMachinerfc (@Meanmachinerfc1) March 4, 2020

https://twitter.com/SirAlexas/status/1235070725876092928?s=20

https://twitter.com/LuyindaYin/status/1235070187763687429?s=20

— Kevin (@zolkebir) March 4, 2020

https://twitter.com/smusyoka/status/1235063758646652928?s=20

 

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