Kenya utility forward Thomas Okeyo Ongera will make his Currie Cup Premier Division debut for the Griffons when they host defending champions Pumas in Welkom on Sunday 16 April 2023.
Okeyo, who debuted for the Simbas in 2021, previously turned out for former Kenya Cup champions Nakuru and South African Varsity Cup side University of Johannesburg. He has grown to become a regular fixture in the Simbas pack over the past three years, most recently featuring at the RWC 2023 Final Qualification Tournament in Dubai in November last year.
He will become the first Kenyan to play in the Currie Cup’s Premier Division. Another Kenyan, Dan Adongo was named in the Sharks squad for the 2011 Currie Cup but failed to feature in that competition.
Elsewhere, another former Nakuru man, Monate Akuei, who has also featured in the Kenya backrow in recent times, has joined Major League Rugby champions Rugby New York. Akuei, who also played his club rugby at Nakuru, has played for Kenya at the U20 level, featuring in the U20 Barthes Trophy squad in 2018. He was also part of the Simbas squad that won the Elgon Cup en route to finishing second to Zimbabwe in the 2019 Victoria Cup that also featured Uganda and Zambia.
