The Kenya Rugby Union joins the St. Mary’s School fraternity in celebrating the life of Father Frank Caffrey who passed away on Tuesday 14 April 2020 aged 86 in Dublin, Ireland from COVID19 related complications.
Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) chairman Oduor Gangla paid tribute to Caffrey for his role in growing the game locally.
“We celebrate him for the services he rendered to rugby while at St Mary’s School. We really want to join the family in celebrating this great man,” said Gangla.
Caffrey was instrumental in sustaining the growth and development of Kenyan school rugby through the Blackrock and Prescott Cup competitions.
He also played a key role in facilitating the Kenya Schools tour to South Africa in 1994. Some of the players who made that trip went on to have stellar careers for club and country, most notably Simbas Head Coach Paul Odera, himself a St. Mary’s alumnus and former captain.
Odera eulogized Caffrey, saying, ” Father Caffrey shaped not only my approach to rugby, but broadened my outlook on life and his method of getting the best out of us players has formed the basis of my coaching philosophy. ”
Herbert Mwachiro, another St. Mary’s alum also paid tribute to Father Caffrey, saying, “He was a great rugby man. A visionary of the game who believed in Kenyan rugby talent. He was always at the forefront of wanting rugby opportunities for schools in Kenya and believed after Ireland it was only Kenyan schoolboy rugby that mattered.”
Father Caffrey was laid to rest on Saturday 18 April 2020 in Dublin, Ireland.
