Former Kenya 7's rugby player Dennis Ombachi has revealed rugby was never his passion and he had never intended to go pro.
The father of 2 who greatly helped the Kenyan team clench its spot in the 2016 Rio Olympics opened up on what led him to join the sport even though he'd never dreamed of joining a team during an interview with CNN's Larry Madowo.
During the sit down with Larry, Ombachi who's now retired and enjoys creating food content talked about how desperation to over chores in school is what made him discover he was a beast in the field.
"The first high school I went to was Kisii High School, they tried to convince me to join but I wasn't interested... I finally joined but I didn't like the sport," stated the father of 2 who has now built a successful food career for himself.
A shocked Larry asked if Ombachi was serious about not liking the game because honestly, if you have seen the former player on the field then you know he embodies the game. He was totally built for it.
"Hang on... The first time you played the game you didn't like it? Like you didn't like the game?" A surprised Madowo asked.
To which Ombachi who these days is popularly known as The Roaming Chef confirmed that indeed he did not fall in love with the game on the first try.
"I did not like it at all... I didn't like rugby. The only thing that I liked... the thing that motivated me to stay on the team is the fact that if I was in the team I was excused from doing duties at school like mopping the floor and dormitories..." Ombachi revealed.
Larry Madowo couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Oohh so you were trying to avoid the chores huh?" An amused Larry asked. To which Ombachi confirmed that that was indeed the very reason that he kept on playing.
He eventually fell in love with the game, fully and deeply, and playing it fuelled him.
The chef went on to highlight that the highlight of his career was when he scored against Zimbabwe qualifying Kenya for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
"I ran and scored the try and as soon I tried to lift my head up there are all these guys falling on top of me, I was tired but at that moment everything cleared.
Over the years I look back at that moment and I realize what we achieved on that day wasn't a small fit as we were seconds away from losing the game which meant we wouldn't have qualified for the Olympics," said Ombachi as he warmly recalled the proud moment.
Read also:
Jalas Junior’s Appeal to Jalang’o Takes Interesting Turn