Owira: Injury hell locked me out of Sweden move
Were it not for the painful injury that Shujaa winger Arthur Owira suffered at Robina Stadium as Kenya faced Zambia in the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, he would probably be playing professional rugby in Sweden.
Owira had just scored Kenya’s first try in what would be a 47-0 triumph and went on to win the ball in the ensuing drop kick but someone tackled him from behind.
All he heard was a pop sound which he thought was from a broken knee. His right femur bone was, however, fractured.
“I lay on the ground and uttered a curse word as I thought my dreams were over. A two-year pro deal that I was in the process of negotiating was over.
I was not in physical pain as my body was still in shock. I conversed with the medics the entire trip to the Gold Coast University Hospital,” Owira reminisces.
Reality dawned on the night of the injury as he lay on the hospital bed alone. He was badly injured and feared losing the use of his leg or never getting back on the rugby pitch.
“After the surgery and return home, my late father played a pivotal role in the recovery journey.
As would be expected, my mother and grandmother wanted me to quit,” said the KCB RFC player.
Fifteen months after an injury so bad the television director wouldn’t show the replay on the giant screen mounted at the stadium, Owira played his first competitive match during the Kabeberi Sevens last July 2 at Meru’s Kinoru Stadium where they finished fourth.
“It was a difficult recovery but I had a strong support system that gave me the confidence to get back on the pitch.
From walking on crutches to getting back to train with my team-mates, it took patience,” he adds.
His rugby journey started at little-known Ramba Boys in Siaya County where Owira admits the school team was not up to scratch.
He also played football and was a 400m runner. He tried his hand at club rugby at his home’s Kisumu RFC but never made the team.
Believing in his talent, his father brought him to Nairobi where, in 2010, he landed at Kenya Harlequin under the then coach Edward Kinyany.
Owira learned from the best in the 2011 season and was named the club’s player of the year the following season.
He made his national team debut and first international try against Russia at the 2017 Cape Town Sevens.
