History-maker – and lightning fast! Gerald Arasa wrote his name in the record books in 2001 when he became the first Kenyan ever to play in a top tier rugby union league when he joined top English side Saracens.
Born in Nairobi, Arasa came to England as a boy with his mother. Aged 15, he switched his sporting attention from football to rugby with immediate success.
Such was his immediate aptitude that a contact within the Middlesex Rugby Union arranged for him to pursue his A-levels at Mill Hill School, where the oval-ball game flourishes.
He later made the England Under-18 squad, and when Saracens offered him an associate professional's contract in 1999, he realised a hobby could be his career.
Known for eye-catching pace and ability to play wing, centre or full back, Arasa would go on to play for England Under-21s and at Saracens for three seasons.
He would often replace Tom Shanklin in Sarries’ first team when the Wales centre was on international duty.
Bright and personable, Arasa was on a crest of a wave at Saracens before his rugby world hit the rocks in 2002 when, suddenly, he was let go in mid-season as part of cost cutting measures. The bad news was delivered by Saracens' coach, New Zealander Wayne Shelford.
"He told me the decisions were coming down from the board," said Arasa at the time. "It felt like a hole had opened up underneath me, and I was dropping in there. It's so bleak.
“You're thinking whether you're good enough, that maybe you've been lying to yourself. A sportsman must believe in himself. If you don't, no one else will."
Arasa maintained that belief and moved to Wales to start the next chapter at Dragons in 2003.
Popular during his time at Rodney Parade, Arasa made his debut against Ulster in September 2003.
It was perhaps fitting after being forced out of the game that he returned with a bang and a try. Nobody could begrudge him that moment.
He would make 11 appearances for Dragons that season and made appearances for Pontypool before moving to join Penzance and Newlyn.
Arasa later joined London Welsh and then wound up his competitive playing career at Luton RFC in 2008.
From humble beginnings, Arasa was the boy from Kenya who wrote his name in the record books when played at the highest level in the English Premiership and Celtic League. And boy was he lightening fast!
