Philip Wokorach: The exciting Ugandan kid taking Kenyan rugby by storm

His swanky and artistic trademark sidesteps that recently left three Kenya Harlequin players drowning on one side has been the talk of the Kenya Cup this season.

It is one of Uganda international fullback Philip Wokorach’s brace of tries that left Quins defenders sprawling towards Adam Arcade’s side as Kabras Sugar won 21-3 in February this year at the RFUEA grounds.

In fact, Quins failed to recover from Kabras Sugar’s defeat to stunningly go down 16-15 to Kenyatta University’s Blak Blad. Fans were left joking that Quins players were yet to return from Adams Arcade where Wokorach dispatched them to.

That sums up Wokorach’s or simply Wokos’ extra ordinary talent that has taken Kenya’s rugby scene by storm; his kicking and try-scoring ability that makes rugby look easy and simple.

It’s no wonder that Wokorach, 25, is leading try scorer at this season’s Kenya Cup, having scored the line 18 times but also converted 23 times and has scored some 145 points before yesterday’s league matches.

Wokorach’s local role model and hero Mwamba’s Collins Injera is second with 13 tries for a total of 65 points.

'BEEN THROUGH A LOT'

Many players would have thrown in the towel if they encountered what Wokorach went through. The player suffered what would have been career ending injuries, a broken right leg in 2013 and a broken left leg in 2015.

The first injury happened in March 2013 when he was playing for Kyadondo Heathen in the Uganda League Cup semi-finals clash against Pirates. the injury put him out for eight months.

“It really took a toll on me since it had never happened in the local league in Uganda. I almost gave up and I thank God for giving me strength,” says Wokorach.

“The second injury that put me out another eight months in 2015 season, found me when I had toughened mentally. It made me stronger as I prayed to God and he gave me the faith.”

Rugby Cranes deputy coach Robert Seguya says that he has seen Wokorach grow right from tag rugby, schools rugby, club rugby and into the national team.

“I have coached him through all the stages,” Seguya explains. “He is a gifted and talented player but geographically misplaced.”

Seguya explains that if Wokorach was born outside East Africa for instance in South Africa or Europe, he would be one of the world's best.

“He stood the challenges of the game when he broke both his limbs at Kyadondo, to get back when people had written him off,” says Seguya adding that if Wokorach gets proper facilities in terms of technical training with the right people, he will become on of the world's best.

Kabras Sugar head coach Henley du Plessis notes that Wokorach can only get better. “He is a well-balanced player with a great vision on attack and good under high balls.

“However, there are areas in his game he needs some improvement especially on his defence."

As a youngster, Wokorach was split between following in the football footsteps of his late father Serafino Jalobo who was Uganda Cranes offensive midfielder and taking up rugby.

But a visit to the “Theatre of Dreams” in London when he was still in Primary Seven in 2006 altered everything for the talented youngster from Kyadondo Rugby Club. His mother Lilian Ayot Rose wanted Wokorach to play football like his late father.

“Initially, my mother’s attitude towards rugby was bad. She perceived the game as rough but along the way she got to learn the game and she is my top fan,” says Wokorach, who embraced the game at the tender age of nine.

Wokorach grew up in a sporting neighbourhood at Nakawa Estates a suburb in Kampala.

Just like many other enthusiastic boys, who were keen to know the new game, Wokorach was swept by that fever following the introduction of totos rugby by Tag Rugby Trust in the year 2000 at the Kyadondo Rugby Club.

“Since it was a new sport, every kid was attracted to it and many turned out in numbers every evening after school,” says Wokorach, who embraced the game while in Standard Four at Kiswa Primary School in 2002.

“I was always outstanding as I went through the mini rugby ranks pretty fast. I kept loving the game every day,” said Wokorach, who was born on December 31, 1993 in a family of five girls and two boys. His younger brother Thomas Gwokto, 20, plays for Toyota Buffalo in Uganda while his cousin Michael plays for Rugby Cranes.

Then in 2006 when in Primary Seven, Wokorach was among the youngsters who made Kyadondo Balenzi side that toured England under coach Jim Park, who passed on in December 2017.

Wokorach and his team visited the rugby museum at Twickenham Stadium, fondly referred to us the “Theatre of Dreams”.

“That visit is what completely transformed me into a full rugby player. It’s one of my best moments in rugby and I shall forever cherish,” says Wokorach, who convinced his mother to enrol him at a City High Day School upon completing his Primary level in 2009 so that he could continue playing rugby.

While still in Form One in secondary school, Wokorach would land a rugby scholarship at Hana Mixed International School where he studied from 2010 through to Senior Six before joining Uganda Christian University (UCU,) Mukono to study a Bachelors in Business Administration.

Wokorach won the Uganda Schools League in 2011 with Hana, came to Nairobi for the Blackrock Festival where they finished second with the 15s team before winning the Schools Category of Safari Sevens in 2011.

Hana met Kenya’s Mang’u High School at Regional Secondary School final in Mbarara, Uganda, where they lifted the title. Wokorach was declared the Most Valuable Player in all these championships.

It was after he joined Kyadondo Heathens in 2013 that the youngster suffered a fractured right leg.

“It was like the whole world had collapsed on me. I remember what my mother told me when I embraced rugby but strange enough she is the one who encourage and inspired me when I thought my rugby career had ended,” says Wokorach, who was the top try and points in the that league despite not playing the whole season because of the leg injury.

Heathens went on to lift the League Cup and Uganda Cup respectively.

Wokorach bounced back towards the end of 2013 and would play off the bench for Heathens against Lira Bulls in January 2014 where he was declared man-of-the-match as Heathens won 114-05.

He helped Heathens lift Uganda Sevens title and played for Cranes Sevens at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. He also featured for Kabras Sugar at the Kenya National Sevens Series that year.

Wokorach was scouted by Esher Rugby Club, a Division II Club in England in January 2015, but his stint abroad was short-lived.

He broke his left leg during a league game between Esher and Chinnor on February 28, 2015, following a nasty tackle.

“I wondered if I was cursed,” said Wokorach, who stayed out of action for the rest of that year.

He returned in 2016, coming off the bench to score a try that levelled the score at 10-10 for Heathens against Boks in the Uganda Cup final. He secured the title for Heathens with a calmly taken penalty kick at the death.

He was called by Uganda for his 15s international debut against Kenya in the Elgon Cup, an annual Test fixture between the two regional rivals. Uganda lost 48-10 in the first leg in Nairobi and 45-24 in the second in Kampala.

“We might have lost but a thoroughly enjoyed my 15s debut,” says Wokorach, who was with Cranes Sevens that lifted the 2016 Africa Cup Sevens title for the first time in Nairobi, beating Namibia 38-19 in the final.

Wokorach went on to make his debut at the World Rugby Sevens Series in Dubai and Cape Town towards the end of 2016 but not before featuring for Kabras Sugar again in Kenya National Sevens Series.

“Towards the end of 2016, I agreed to join Kabras Sugar after having struck a good relationship with its former chairman Ray Olendo, who has been like a father to me,” says Wokorach.

Kabras Sugar, won the 2015/2016 Kenya Cup title for only the first time.

The reached the next two finals only to lose to Kenya Commercial Bank.

Wokorach said despite losing to KCB 44-20 in their Kenya Cup rugby league match recently, they are still a team to beat heading into the play-offs. “We know the mistakes we committed in defence and set pieces. God will reward our hard work and we shall reclaim the title,” says Wokorach.

He says his ambition is to play professional rugby in Europe preferably in France or England.

Wokorach says moving to Kenya has improved his game understanding and made him a better player.

Wokorach wants Rugby Africa to expand Gold Cup competition to feature home and away matches if the game is to improve on the continent.