Former Uganda Rugby Cranes and Kobs Rugby Club captain Brian Odongo has retired from club and test rugby.
The announcement was made by Kobs Rugby Club on Friday afternoon ahead of the 2022 rugby premier league season’s kickoff.
“The KOBs family and rugby fraternity will forever be indebted to Brian Odongo for the selflessness, leadership, joyful moments, wins and losses that manifested during his magnificent rugby career,” said Kobs chairman Dr. Tony Stone Luggya in a statement published by the club.
Odongo, a professional engineer, began his colourful rugby career as a teenager in high school when he attended both St Mary’s College Kisubi and Namilyango College. He then joined Kobs Rugby Club in 2008 starting from development outfit Boks and won the league in his first season. The same year, he earned his first Uganda Rugby Cranes cap during the Elgon Cup.
He was named Kobs captain in 2010 and four years later, he became national team captain. Odongo is the last Ugandan captain to win the Elgon Cup, having lifted the trophy in 2015.
As a player, Odongo was such a force to reckon with. Being a prop, his heroics do not get noticed by the fans as the position is one that does not excite many. But there was never any doubt on his skills and abilities, especially at the scrummage.
Odongo’s career suffered some significant challenges like work commitments that forced him to miss in action and injuries that kept him on the sidelines.
His last dance as a player was during the Rugby Africa Cup 2021 hosted at home in which he was Uganda’s best player, having solidified Uganda’s pack strength.
What a career Brian Odongo had!
“Players come and go but you, Brian Odongo, can never be replaced,” said Luggya in his statement. True to this, on behalf of the entire rugby fraternity, if I may please, we appreciate Odongo’s contribution to the sport and wish him an enjoyable retirement.