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Are there any nice guys in rugby? In a sport where most of the time you are trying to kill the guys from the opposing team, albeit within prescribed limits; and big tackles gather the most cheers, being nice is the last thing on any rugby player’s mind. But all that is usually left on the fi eld, after the game the players are supposed to be friends and probably share a beer.

That is the theory. But I’ve seen players carry the beef from the field into the bathrooms, into the bar, into the next day and even into the next few weeks. I’ve known players that don’t speak to each other for months because of something that happened on the field, and are wont to start tackling each other when they meet in a bar.

Herbert Wafula, or Habo as everyone called him, was that rare being — a genuinely nice guy who happened to be an excellent rugby player. He could be as mean as the best of them on the pitch, and would break your head if given a chance. But off it, he was back to his jolly, unassuming self.

Maybe too unassuming, because for all the milestones he achieved as a rugby player, he really isn’t as well known, or as celebrated as he should have been.

A case in point is one evening in Nairobi that should be up there among Uganda rugby’s fi nest moments. Up to that Saturday in the year 2000 at the Rugby Football Union of East Africa grounds on Ngong Road, Nairobi, in the final of the Capital Cup 7s, Uganda had not beaten Kenya in over 50 years in any of the game’s formats.

We had not even attained independence the last time a rugby team from Uganda had beaten Kenya, so to the hosts this should be just another routine victory over the poor cousins to the west. But they had not reckoned with the Uganda captain.

With the hooter already sounded to mark the end of the second half, and Uganda trailing, Habo got the ball somewhere just beyond the 22 and kicked in a drop goal that would be heard all across the region. That drop goal meant that Uganda had beaten Kenya for the first time in over 50 years, and the capacity crowd fell silent.

Habo would go on to accomplish many ‘firsts’ in his rugby career, including being part of the national team that played the country’s first-ever test match after being officially admitted as a member of the then International Rugby Board (IRB, now World Rugby) in 1997.

When he joined Makerere University in 1998, he revitalised rugby there and captained the Impis to their first and only league title. He would then play for the Rhinos, Kobs and eventually join the newly formed Black Pirates.

In 2001, he captained the Uganda Rugby Cranes 15s team to its first ever Rugby World Cup qualification matches. They beat Zambia at home but lost to Cameroon in Douala. The next year Habo led the national team to its first ever tour of Zimbabwe, which had played at the 1991 and 1995 World Cup. To Uganda rugby that was very rarefied air the team was playing in, and it marked the real beginning of Uganda as a rugby Test playing country. Uganda had reached the world stage, in other words.

But he wasn’t done. That same year he was captain again as Uganda participated in the Confederation of African Rugby (CAR) 1B tournament, and had sweet revenge against Cameroon, beating them 25-13 in Kampala.

Then came a defining moment in both Uganda rugby and Habo’s career. A year before that Uganda had beaten Kenya, but that was 7s, and many Kenyans took that as a fluke, anyway. The semi-final of the CAR tournament was to be played in Nairobi, Uganda against Kenya; and the winner would go on to play against Botswana. These were 15s, and the hosts were very sure it would be a blowout.

It was a party atmosphere at the RFUEA grounds, a stage was set up and a band was ready to play and start off the celebrations as soon as the game was done. But again, they had not reckoned with the captain, who inspired the team to a shock 30–22 over the Kenyans. The crowd was in shock, and left soon afterwards. The band guys packed up their equipment and also left. The stage was empty, as was the stadium, except for the still celebrating Ugandan team and a few fans who had made the trip to Nairobi,

In the midst of all was a smiling Habo, not really making noise, but with a happy face knowing he had done what no Ugandan captain had done before him.

A few weeks ago, we beat Kenya in the Victoria Cup, and Ugandans were over the moon and there were celebrations all over Kampala. Can anyone even imagine what it was like in 2002, in Nairobi? I still remember the feeling, because I was there. And that was when we stopped being the ‘poor cousins to the west’.

In all of that, Habo remained his unassuming self. He would later become a coach, and still attained many ‘firsts’. As coach of the 7s national team, he led it to its first-ever tour of the UK, and then its first-ever appearance in the World Rugby Series in 2003. He would also serve as the first rugby manager for the Uganda Rugby Union.

A few months ago, he was taken ill. Last Friday morning, Herbert Oimba Wafula breathed his last, and was buried in Busia this week.

If Ugandan rugby had a Hall of Fame, I bet you would be the first name on the list. Another first, to go with all the others. Fare thee well, Captain.