William Ambaka Ndayara (born 14 May 1990) is a Kenyan rugby union player, currently playing for the

Kenyan ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

national sevens team as well as for in New Zealand's Mitre 10 Cup. He has previously played professionally for French

Rugby Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was in ...

team, Lyon OU, and the South African Currie Cup side, . His regular position is winger.

Early Career and Sevens Rugby

Ambaka started his rugby career for

Kenya Harlequins Kenya Harlequin Football Club, (Harlequins or Quins for short) is a Kenyan rugby union club that competes in the Kenya Cup, the top level of Kenyan rugby. The club motto "''Nunquam Dormio''" is Latin, meaning ''I never sleep''. History There was ...

in 2010. Harlequins' strength and conditioning coach, Geoffrey Kimani, recommended Ambaka to the Kenya Sevens head coach, Benjamin Ayimba. He made his debut for the national Kenya Sevens team at the

2011 Hong Kong Sevens The 2011 Hong Kong Sevens was a seven-a-side rugby union tournament, part of the 2010–11 IRB Sevens World Series. The competition was being held from 25–27 March in at Hong Kong Stadium in Hong Kong and featured 24 teams. Teams The follo ...

tournament, and represented them during the 2011–12 and

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

IRB Sevens World Series The World Rugby Men's Sevens Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the com ...

. Ambaka was chosen as part of the 2012–13 HSBC Sevens World Series Dream Team based on his performance that season. He was one of three nominations for the IRB Sevens Player of the Year award in 2013, but lost out to

Tim Mikkelson Tim Mikkelson (born 13 August 1986 in Matamata) is a New Zealand rugby union player. Mikkelson plays for the New Zealand national rugby sevens team and is the most capped player in the team's history, surpassing former captain DJ Forbes record ...

of New Zealand. He also played for the Kenya Sevens at the

2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the sixth edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The tournament was held at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia. New Zealand won the tournament, defeating England 33–0 in the final. Attendance for the tourname ...

in Moscow. Ambaka was also included in the Kenya national team squad that played in the

2014 Africa Cup The 2014 Africa Cup was the fourteenth edition of the Africa Cup, an annual international rugby union tournament for African nations organised by the Confederation of African Rugby (CAR). The tournament, as well as the 2012 Africa Cup, 2012 and 201 ...

competition (which doubled up as a

2015 Rugby World Cup qualifying The qualification process for the 2015 Rugby World Cup began during the pool stages of the 2011 tournament in New Zealand, during which the top three teams from each of the four pools were awarded automatic qualification for the 2015 event. A f ...

tournament), but had to withdraw after suffering an ankle injury. In 2022, He featured for Kenya at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town.

Lyon

In 2013, Ambaka signed a professional contract with Lyon for the

2013–14 Rugby Pro D2 season The 2013–14 Rugby Pro D2 is the second-level French rugby union club competition, behind the Top 14, for the 2013–14 season. It ran alongside the 2013–14 Top 14 competition; both competitions are operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR ...

, becoming the first Kenyan rugby player to play for a team in the top two divisions in France. He played in ten matches and scored six tries as Lyon won the title and promotion to the Top 14 for 2014–15.

Western Province

On 31 July 2014, South African Currie Cup side announced that Ambaka would join them ahead of the

2014 Currie Cup Premier Division The 2014 Currie Cup Premier Division was the 76th season in the competition since it started in 1889 and was contested from 9 August to 25 October 2014. The tournament (known as the Absa Currie Cup Premier Division for sponsorship reasons) is th ...

season. He was signed on the recommendation of

Jerome Paarwater Jerome Paarwater is a South African professional rugby union football coach. He is currently the head coach of the side that participates in the Currie Cup. He was previously forwards coach with both the and , and also coached Kenya ) , ...

, the coach of the Kenya national team and former coach of Western Province. However, shortly after arriving in Cape Town, he suffered an ankle injury and made no appearances for the team during their title-winning season.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ambaka, Willy Kenyan rugby union players Living people 1990 births People from Taita-Taveta County Rugby union wings Western Province (rugby union) players Lyon OU players Expatriate rugby union players in France Male rugby sevens players Rugby sevens players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic rugby sevens players of Kenya Kenya international rugby sevens players Rugby sevens players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Manawatu rugby union players Simbas players Rugby sevens players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games