Joshua Chasinga chasing his dream at Newcastle Falcons

Music producer turned professional rugby player Joshua Chisanga is on track to become the first full Kenyan international to play in the Premiership.
Chisanga caught the eye of an English-based agent while playing for the Simbas, a Kenyan Select XV, in the 2014 Vodacom Cup in South Africa. He signed an 18-month deal with Newcastle in March and now, after making his first team debut start in a pre-season friendly against Doncaster, the powerful back-row player cannot wait to do Kenya proud and take his game onto the next level.
As a trailblazer for his country, Chisanga admits there is a weight of expectation on his shoulders.
“No Kenyan has done this before, so I am not taking it for granted. Hopefully it is going to be the beginning of a big thing. I am keen to tick all the boxes I need to tick for me to get in that No.8 or No.6 jersey,” Chisanga said.
“All I want to do is play and build a platform for those who come after me. If you are good enough and fit into the system, they will give you a chance to play. So my job here is to be a student of the game and learn the systems inside and out, and if I do that with my physicality and attributes of the game I think I stand a chance.
“The whole rugby fraternity in Kenya is looking at me and I don't want to let the people back home down. I get messages on Facebook all the time, even from people I don't even know, wishing me well and saying how proud they are of me.
“School kids send me messages saying they want to do what I am doing, and I was exactly the same when I was their age; I wanted to do what Kenyan Sevens stars Humphrey Kayange and Collins Injera were doing.
“I didn't know it was going to be like this but it is something I have to live with.”
Despite their natural athleticism and their increasing influence on the world stage in both Sevens and 15s, where they are currently at their highest-ever rankings of 24th, the last time a Kenyan ever got remotely close to playing in the Premiership was back in the early Noughties when winger Lucas Onyango was plying his trade for then Championship strugglers Manchester.
Two other players who were born in Kenya have played in the Premiership – Gerald Arasa, 19 games for Saracens and Simon Shaw, 237 games for Wasps – but neither represented Kenya internationally.
“I think there's lots of quality players in Kenya who can do amazing things on the pitch, it is just finding them or them getting the chance to show what they can do,” Chisanga said. “If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone. If the game back home develops a fraction of the way it has here, I think we'll see more Kenyans come through the ranks.”
Chisanga played his first game of rugby at the age of 13 while at High School in Uganda. Ten years on, “The Beast” admits he is living the dream.
“I'm living everything I hoped to do one day, hence the big smile on my face. I actually thought it was a practical joke when I first heard about Newcastle's interest – but then the contract came through, and then a flight ticket.”
Having sampled one of his passions professionally, he is relishing the chance to pursue a career in the other – rugby. “I never really looked at myself as an office worker so I had two options – be a music producer or be a pro athlete.  Before I came here I worked for a record label in Nairobi, Home Boys, who owned the club I played for.  When I'm not on the pitch, I work with various artists to make music. I can sample and make from scratch.”
Capped three times by the Simbas during their RWC2015 qualifying campaign, Chisanga admits the last two years have been a steep learning curve. “The Vodacom Cup was a different level altogether to what I'd been used to, the intensity was different, the conditioning was different … waking up to rugby day-in day-out, was a big change for me, but it was good preparation for now.
“I know the Premiership is the best league in the world, it is the hardest league. Gaining ground here is near on impossible but I am up for the challenge and it'll be nice to find out what it is like.”
JON NEWCOMBE