Nsenga makes whistle-stop tour of Scotland

Rwandan rugby has taken another significant step forward with Gerald Nsenga becoming the first referee from the country to officiate outside Africa.

Nsenga recently visited Scotland as a guest of the Edinburgh Rugby Referees’ Society and oversaw schools, university, women’s and club matches. In addition, he acted as No.6 official at the Edinburgh v Leinster RaboDirect PRO12 fixture at Murrayfield.

“We always have issues in Rwanda when we don’t have qualified referees,” explained Nsenga. “I was in Scotland to learn. This was a great opportunity for me.”

Nsenga, 37, is a former back-row forward who was player-coach of the Rwandan national team on their historic first tour to Hong Kong in 2010. With his playing career winding down, he took up officiating in the knowledge that without qualified referees the fledgling game in Rwanda would find it difficult to grow.

Educated in Uganda, Nsenga was one of the early pioneers of rugby in Rwanda a decade ago. “I played high school and club rugby in Uganda and when I went back to Rwanda there was no rugby,” he recalled. “Together with a few foreigners working in the country we got it going and managed to get the boys in the neighbourhood along to play touch rugby to start with, then took it from there.”

The driving force behind Nsenga’s landmark trip to Scotland was Colin Brett, the Scottish Rugby Union’s Edinburgh Referee Development Manager. Brett and former Scotland coach Frank Hadden visited Rwanda almost a year ago as part of the Penguins Coaching Academy, conducting a week-long series of clinics.

Brett led a level one refereeing course, helped organise a tournament and evaluated a number of aspiring referees. When he returned to Scotland, he set about organising Nsenga’s visit and the Edinburgh Rugby Referees’ Society stepped in with funding.

“What we were trying to achieve from Gerald’s visit is that on his return home he can use the structure that he’s seen in Scotland to build on,” explained Brett.

“With a minimum 10 teams in Rwanda he is looking at having, really, 10 qualified referees but we are also aiming to have regular dialogue so that we can discuss ideas with him through videos and DVDs and generally share best practice for developing referees.”

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Released on behalf of Rwandan Rugby by Two Up Front – the sports PR specialists.