ANYONE WHO HAS had brothers, sisters, friends, cousins, enemies or acquaintances emigrate down under will know the feeling.
You are trying to catch up with someone but the phone delay to Australia makes you feel like a guest on Sky News as you both talk over each other with increasing frequency.
Once the line settles down, Cian O’Connor tells his story that has taken him from playing for Cashel RFC to appearing for Perth Spirit in the National Rugby Championship final (Australia’s equivalent of the Currie Cup).
O’Connor’s journey is one that many can relate to but his story is unique enough to him. His move to the other side of the world wasn’t made out of desperation or economic hardship. Rather, his was made by rugby.
Rugby has always been a passion for O’Connor and by his own admission, it has been something of a driving force during his adult life.
He credits his parents and Pat Whelan of Nenagh rugby club with helping instil in him a love of the game but that love eventually turned to talent as O’Connor captained an Ireland Schools team from the back row that contained future international Tommy Bowe.
Unfortunately for O’Connor, his national accolades weren’t enough to get him major provincial notice. That was what led him on an almost ten year journey around the world, with the only constant throughout being rugby.
“I played Ireland U18 and U19 but I didn’t get picked for Munster U21 which was very frustrating,” O’Connor said. I was a pretty light flanker at the time and I had the opportunity to go over and play for Hawke’s Bay in New Zealand in 2005. It was meant to be a three month stay but I ended up staying there for three years.”
It wasn’t just the rugby that appealed to him, although the flanker did love the fast style of play over the dogged mudfests that can be prevalent in Irish club rugby. O’Connor had finished college in Ireland and with qualifications as a quantity surveyor, was also working in the Napier region where Hawke’s Bay play.
“It improved me massively as a player and I became a lot more skilful. I had a very narrow vision on the field when I played in Ireland but it was opened up over there,” O’Conner said.
After his three year stint in New Zealand, O’Connor arrived home to Ireland but whatever interest Munster had shown in him had disappeared during his time away.
He initially had to sit out from club rugby due to not getting registered in time, but eventually he was cleared to play with his local club, Cashel RFC.
Having played club rugby in New Zealand, O’Connor could definitely have played at a bigger club but he was content to play with his home team.
“It was nice to run in a few tries,” O’Connor laughs when asked if him playing for Cashel was almost like dropping Kieran Read into a club game. I came home and tried to play for Cashel but it took me awhile to get registered. I didn’t really care what the standard was, I just wanted to play rugby. We were playing in the junior league and we won two league titles when I was there.”
O’Connor also had a brief stint with Shannon but says that he didn’t enjoy the experience. That dovetailed perfectly with an offer from the University of Western Australia to come out and play for them. UWA paid for his flights and sorted him out with a visa and O’Connor jumped at the chance to travel again.
His time in Perth has been successful – he has twice captained UWA to glory in Western Australia’s marquee club tournament, the Pindan Premier Grade, and also represented Perth Spirit, a feeder club of sorts to Super Rugby side Western Force, last weekend in the final of the National Rugby Championship.
“I was involved a bit with the Perth side back in 2012 but there was no NRC then,” O’Connor said.
“There was no tournament between Super Rugby and club rugby and they wanted to bridge that gap so the NRC was created. I was in the squad for a few games this year but luckily for me there was an injury to a young flanker just before the final so I got brought into the squad.”
Although Perth lost the final to Brisbane, O’Connor still counts it as one of his proudest rugby memories.
“Captaining Ireland schools was probably number one but it is next in line after that,” O’Connor said.
“There were Wallabies like Jake Schatz and Liam Gill playing and so was Luke Morahan, who scored that great try against the Lions last year.”
While O’Connor enjoyed rubbing shoulders with such high profile players, he acknowledges that at 30, his chance at professional rugby is likely gone forever.
“I’m a bit old in the tooth for that now,” O’Connor said.
“I just found out I need shoulder surgery so I will be out of action for the next while. There is probably no chance of that [playing for the Western Force] at this stage.”
He may not have a shot at playing Super Rugby, but the thought of lying at the bottom of a ruck, caked in mud on a wet and windy winter day in Ireland is probably enough to keep O’Connor away for a little longer.
“The weather is definitely a perk,” O’Connor said.
“I’ve only played in two or three wet weather games over the last four years.”
Rugby players plying their trade in New Zealand and Australia isn’t a new phenomenon but with the provincial academies casting a wider net than ever, less players are falling through the cracks.
O’Connor still thinks experiencing different rugby cultures can be hugely beneficial for young players but acknowledges that it is a different era now.
“It is definitely a worthwhile experience for a young player,” O’Connor said. Maybe they would be better doing it for just a summer now though. When I was out of school and in college, there was no real academy structure. I was probably gone too long because when I got back they had forgotten about me.”
O’Connor talks passionately about playing and living in Australia and he has been located there for the guts of the last five years, except for an extended period when he travelled back to Ireland to be near his father who was ill.
He says seeing his father deal with his illness gave him great strength to never give up and to fear nothing.
O’Connor’s family is very important to him and he isn’t the only good rugby player in the O’Connor clan.
But despite the pedigree of his brothers, he wasn’t tempted to rope them into coming over with him so they could dominate the Western Australian club rugby scene Burgess brothers-style.
“They are actually very good players,” O’Connor said.
“One of my brothers played on Ireland Schools with Keith Earls and Luke Fitzgerald and another won an AIL with Shannon. They are great guys but try living with them!”
