DRIVING THE MACHINE

While in residential camp, the 1976 University of Nairobi rugby squad for the East Africa University games watched the 1974 Hollywood blockbuster “The Longest Yard”. Starring Burt Reynolds as Paul Crewe, the movie was about a convicted American Football player who despite having been asked by the wardens to throw the game in return for an early release, trained and led his fellow convicts towards becoming a formidable side called Mean Machine. Having come from a controlled background themselves, playing for teams of the old order that prevented them from fully exerting themselves, the story of this football team resonated well with the university lads. And so, that year, the rugby team took to the pitch, winning the intervarsity games rugby gold medal as University of Nairobi’s Mean Machine.  Read more here

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