Edward Rombo is a Kenyan former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer. He was one of the few Kenya rugby players to turn professional, when he moved to

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...

in 1990.

Playing career

Rombo was born in 1967 in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

, Kenya. He started playing

when he moved to

Nairobi School The Nairobi School is a secondary school in Nairobi, Kenya. It follows the national curriculum, is one of Kenya's 112 national schools and also one of the 18 prestigious Cluster III secondary schools. It was founded in 1902 by the British sett ...

for secondary school education, where he captained the 1986 school side. During his school years he also played for Barclays RFC, which won the Kenya Cup in 1987. After leaving school, he enrolled in the

University of Nairobi The University of Nairobi (uonbi or UoN; ) is a college, collegiate research university based in Nairobi and is the largest List of universities and colleges in Kenya, university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution dat ...

, where he joined

Mean Machine RFC Mean Machine RFC is a Rugby union club based in Nairobi, Kenya. It is the representative side of the University of Nairobi The University of Nairobi (uonbi or UoN; ) is a college, collegiate research university based in Nairobi and is the la ...

. On a trip to Singapore with the Watembezi Pacesetters VII he was awarded the player of the tournament, and soon after was signed by English

club

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

. He also went on to play for

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...

and

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Post Office Road and currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Featherstone ...

. There have only been a few other players from Kenya that have played overseas, such as Benjamin Ayimba and Oscar Osir, who both had stints with the

Cornish Pirates The Cornish Pirates () are a professional rugby union team who play in the RFU Championship, Championship, the second level of the English rugby union pyramid, and are the premier Cornish rugby club. The Cornish Pirates team are the 'First XV' o ...

from 2005 to 2006 and

Lucas Onyango Lucas Onyango (born May 12, 1981) is a Kenyan international development manager for the Kenya Rugby League. He used to play as a winger in rugby union for the Kenya national rugby union team and Sale Sharks, as well as Oldham RLFC and Widnes Vik ...

who played for various professional

clubs including

Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the RFL Championship, Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at DCBL Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twe ...

. Teddy Omondi and Derrick Wamalwa also played professional rugby in France for ''Racing Club of Paris.'' Wamalwa was forced to retire due to knee injury. Omondi however continues and has just secured a new three-year contract. Willy Ambaka has also secured a pro-contract in France where he plies his trade. He took the opportunity to attend the University of Leeds and gain a degree in law. He returned to Kenya in 1999, and played for

Mwamba RFC Mwamba Rugby Football Club, (Known as Stanbic Mwamba RFC for sponsorship purposes), is a Kenyan rugby union club based in Nairobi. The club was founded in 1977 with the aim of promoting rugby union among indigenous Kenyans at a time when the spor ...

between 1999 and 2003. Rombo later served as assistant coach for Kenya 7s and as a director on the Kenya Rugby Football Union Board from 2010 to 2012. He then retired and is now the

coach.

Managerial career

In 2020, Rombo was named head coach of the

Kenya national rugby league team The Kenya national rugby league team represent Kenya in the sport of rugby league football. History They made their international rugby league debut against Italy national rugby league team, Italy where Kenya defeated them 34-24 in front of over ...

References

External links

Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rombo, Edward 1967 births Living people 20th-century Kenyan sportsmen Alumni of Nairobi School Alumni of the University of Leeds Dewsbury Rams players Expatriate rugby league players in England Expatriate rugby union players in England Featherstone Rovers players Kenya national rugby league team coaches Kenyan rugby league players Kenyan rugby union players Kenya international rugby union players Leeds Rhinos players University of Nairobi alumni