EXCLUSIVE: Chisanga pens deal with Polish club

Joshua Chisanga could become the first Kenyan professional player to ply his trade in Eastern Europe after penning an eight-month deal for Orkan Sochaczew, which competes in the Polish top flight.

Chisanga who played his third game for Menengai Cream Homeboyz last week in the Enterprise Cup after recovering from a knee injury will be making his second stint playing professionally in Europe after a season and a half at the Newcastle Falcons in the United Kingdom in 2016.

The burly Simbas forward tips the scale at 116kg and is a towering figure in the Kenyan back-row renowned for his powerful runs that usually leaves destruction in his wake.

These skills are what have caught the eyes of Orkan who are struggling in the Polish premiership

“It will be nice to go back to Europe to see how I will play in the top leagues,” the 25-year old exclusively revealed to Citizen Digital on the sidelines of his club’s 12 – 11 victory over Quins in the Enterprise Cup pre-quarters.

Two years ago, Chisanga made history becoming the first Kenyan to play in England’s top rugby union Premier League, the Aviva Premiership.

He signed a one-and-a-half-year deal before returning to Homeboyz and the national rugby fifteens team, the Simbas. Chisanga has yet to reveal publicly why his lucrative contract playing professional in the United Kingdom was not renewed, until now,

“The deal came to an end, they (Newcastle Falcons) were happy to give me another contract but the way my visa was set up, there wasn’t much of flexibility so they couldn’t develop me as much as they wanted to,”he explained, adding that Kenya’s global rankings could have indirectly compounded his chances of a contract extension.

The new deal in Poland is another chance for the Kenya Simbas international to reinvent and express himself in Europe.

“It will be nice to go back to Europe to see how I will play in the top leagues,” Chisanga said.

Contractual obligations ensure that international players are released to feature for their national sides. Chisanga who departs to Poland on April 23,2018 could be back with the Simbas as early as end May for the crucial 2019 Rugby World Cup qualifiers in June.

“I’m looking to get back my fitness and  form and just really have a shot at it again,”he enthused.

The “Beast” as his fondly known in the rugby circles could play his final domestic game for Homeboyz on Saturday against Nondescripts