WALK THROUGH THE campus of the University of California, Los Angeles on any given day and you might spot Real Madrid or another touring team like Chelsea training on one of the world-class pitches.

Not far away, some of UCLA’s Olympic athletes could be working out, or the university’s football team – the Bruins – might be readying the next NFL stars, as the basketball side focuses on honing the craft of future NBA household names.

Jackie Robinson, the first black American to play Major League Baseball, came through UCLA, as did six American football Hall of Famers, including three-time Super Bowl winner Troy Aikman. The revered basketball coach John Wooden made his name there, developing stars like six-time NBA champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

UCLA is a highly prestigious place, not just in sports. Among its alumni are 16 Nobel laureates and three Pulitzer Prize winners. Graduates of UCLA have won 105 Oscars, 278 Emmys, and 50 Grammys. 

The beautiful campus was the set for scenes in the movie Oppenheimer and is often used to portray Harvard in films. And sport is right at the heart of everything at UCLA.

Ballymena man Rory Corr got used to spotting celebrities or watching people he had met go on to bigger things during his three seasons playing and coaching rugby with UCLA.

“It’s actually insane,” says 25-year-old Corr, who came through Ballymena Academy with the likes of Ulster back Stewart Moore and Cornish Pirates out-half Bruce Houston. 

“The facilities are probably the biggest wow factor. Rob Baloucoune and Nathan Doak were on holiday in LA and I caught up with them and said, ‘I’ll take you on a tour of UCLA.’ Just walking around the campus, they couldn’t believe it.”

Corr is currently back home in Ireland after his three-year adventure in the US, which has also included working as a lineout analyst for Rugby FC Los Angeles in Major League Rugby and a stint training with the LA Giltinis.

He is moving to Australia next month and will link up with the Randwick club in Sydney to continue learning his craft as a coach.

Corr is firmly of the view that more Irish rugby players could change their lives by playing and studying in the US, where some colleges offer full or partial rugby scholarships. There are huge benefits even after graduating, and Corr would love others to explore the American route. 

The UCLA Bruins' Rose Bowl. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

He played lots of Gaelic football growing up but rugby slowly took over when he went to school at Ballymena Academy. The 6ft 6ins second row was a fine player, but he wasn’t big on the gym, something that never changed over the years. What interested Corr more from early on was the strategy and scheming of rugby.

“I would annoy my dad when we were watching rugby on TV because I would always rewind,” says Corr.

“I’d be thinking, ‘Oh, what did they do there? Why did they do that? What was the outcome? Why did they chase that?”

Corr wasn’t involved with Ulster’s underage teams in school and when he chose to go to University College Dublin to study psychology, he initially didn’t sign up with the rugby team.

But his curiosity got the better of him and he overcame a hint of “impostor syndrome,” which stemmed from nearly everyone else in the UCD U20s set-up having played for their provinces. He ended up loving the experience. 

“The two best players on that team were Cian Prendergast, who was in the second row and obviously now captains Connacht and plays for Ireland,” says Corr.

“And then Bobby Sheehan, Dan’s brother. Bobby was unbelievable. Big, fast, strong, and could throw an unreal dart.”

Corr had always liked the idea of doing some of his degree in the US and though Covid initially delayed those plans, he was eventually able to add on another year to his three-year degree in UCD. After weighing up multiple options, he went on exchange to UCLA, which also has relationships with Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Galway.

Among the reasons was that Corr’s fellow Irishman, Dave Clancy, was in charge of UCLA rugby at the time in 2021. Clancy, who now works as attack and backs coach for the San Diego Legion in Major League Rugby, convinced Corr to come to Los Angeles, which offered top-class education, amazing facilities, year-round warm weather, and the full-on American college lifestyle.

Rugby in UCLA is different to other places in that they don’t offer a varsity programme where players come in on scholarships with everything paid for. Rugby players have to pay annual fees but get access to all of the elite facilities as a result.

Corr playing for UCD.

The UCLA rugby team trains on exactly the same pitches that visiting teams like Man United and Real Madrid use. Their gym set-up includes a padded area for working on contact skills that many professional clubs would be envious of. 

So it was an ideal place for Corr to continue enjoying his rugby. He impressed for UCLA in that 2021/22 season, earning selection on a Division 1A All-American team at the end of the campaign, as well as having a stint with the now-defunct LA Giltinis.

The likes of Matt Giteau, Adam Ashley-Cooper, and Dave Dennis were playing for the MLR side in 2021. Injuries in their second row meant they needed training cover for six weeks.

“The coolest one was probably Quade Cooper coming down for a training session one day,” says Corr.

“It was good to get that exposure to the high-performance environment, to push myself to the next level and say, ‘You know what, it’s actually not too far away, I understand what’s going on, what the concepts are.’”

Corr came back to Ireland after the year in UCLA determined to get back to the States as soon as possible. In the meantime, he contacted Budge Pountney – the former Northampton back row who now works as the rugby development manager in Ulster Rugby – and got started on his coaching badges.

That led to working with the Ulster U16 and U17 set-ups, a valuable experience for Corr in player development. But all the while, he was working towards getting a Visa to move back to the States.

He landed a job with Inventure, a renewable energy company, and returned to LA in the summer of 2023, also linking back up with UCLA as their new forwards coach. 

“There’s guys we’d have who are All-Americans, some of them might play for America in a World Cup in the future,” says Corr of that role.

“Then in the same training session, we’d have guys who had never played rugby before, maybe have never really played sport before. You have to develop and deliver a training programme that caters to all of those individuals. So that was a very unique challenge.”

UCLA’s rugby team is international, with players from France, South Africa, Belgium, Australia, Hong Kong, and elsewhere. Their games against other universities often involve flights or 10-hour bus journeys. The sheer scale of the US is part of the challenge.

Corr loved being back in the UCLA bubble. He was always on the lookout for players and remembers convincing American football player Lucas Gramlick to give rugby a go. Not long after, the 6ft 7ins and 130kg Gramlick had signed in the MLR and was on the US Eagles’ radar.

Corr during a stint with the LA Giltinis.

There was another time when Corr and co. told the off-season UCLA American footballers to come down and try touch rugby. Among those who got involved was Laiatu Latu, a defensive end who was the 15th overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft by the Indianapolis Colts.

“It was touch but you’d almost move right out of the way because they were just so fast and physical,” says Corr. “They’re made out of cement!”

Rugby FC Los Angeles got up and running in 2024 and with the MLR heavily incentivising clubs to have academies, another opportunity opened up for Corr.

He started as forwards coach for RFCLA’s academy in the summer of 2024 and that led on to becoming a lineout analyst for the senior team earlier this year. That involves poring over footage of RFCLA’s opposition lineouts and sending clips to the club’s Aussie coaches, Stephen Hoiles and Dave Dennis.

RFCLA – whose squad includes Christian Leali’ifano, Gonzalo Bertranou, and several Irish players - face the Houston SabreCats tonight in the MLR quarter-finals and it has been riveting for Corr to be involved in the campaign. 

“I clip stuff up, send it to Dave,” says Corr. “So to go back to earlier, ‘What did they do? Why did they do it? Here’s where their strengths are. Is that something that’s maybe we can expose or maybe we can make applicable to us?’”

Corr recently analysed the impact Gavin Thornbury has on the Utah Warriors’ lineout, and he loves digging into the detailed intricacies of the set-piece and other parts of the game.

He hopes to continue down that route in Australia, where Hoiles helped him to connect with Shute Shield side Randwick. Corr will get involved with the Randwick U20s as he takes on a new job away from rugby in Sydney.

He knows that it will be a challenge to become a full-time professional rugby coach but Corr is keen to see where this journey leads next.

“Being a professional coach would be unbelievable,” he says. “I recognise it’s pretty tough to get there. I recognise that people I’m competing against are boys that are currently playing professional rugby, so it’s really about kind of getting my reps up, learning the art of coaching over the next five years, hit 30 and see where I’m at.

“A professional coach would be great, ideally probably more of a specialist coach than a head coach.”

Another return to the US is already part of his thinking. Corr reckons that coaching full-time at an American college might be “one of the best jobs in world rugby” with the great lifestyle, pay, and stability involved.

Whatever comes next, UCLA will always have a fond place in Corr’s heart.