Senior Continues the Family Tradition of Excelling at Rugby

Senior Cormac O’Connor’s blue and white striped rugby jersey was soaking with rain. His cleats were clogged with mud and his shorts were stained with dirt. Faced against a huge 8-man, the guy at the end of the pack, Cormac was intimidated. This guy was stacked. It was up to him to run the ball. A line of his own team set up behind Cormac and a line of the U19 Northern Kildare team were across from him.

“I just had to pick the ball up and run right into this guy and he just throws me down,” Cormac said. “I got killed.”

Even though the other player had taken Cormac down, they were still able to be courteous and friendly after the game.

“The idea behind it is you fight on the field and you are complete enemies and everything’s fair game basically and then once you’re off the field then you’re best friends and you go out and eat together,” Cormac said.

This sense of camaraderie and tradition of sharing a meal together after the game, along with the intensity, is why Cormac loves the game.

His passion and roots of rugby go back to his grandfather as well as father. His grandfather played club rugby and his father, Rory O’Connor, played for the KC Blues when he was 23.

The first time Cormac played rugby was when he was seven and visiting family in Ireland. His dad had him play on his cousin’s rugby team.

Cormac remembers attempting to play, but having no clue what was going on or how to play the game:

“I would be off sides and pick the ball up and just run with it and all these horrible things. They probably hated playing with me,” Cormac said.

Rory helped teach Cormac the laws of the game and gave him extra tips. Last year Cormac played the same position as his father and grandfather, second row, so Rory was able to teach him different techniques and secrets that would help him succeed.

Cormac has now played rugby for four years on the KC Blues junior team. Since freshman year he has played with high school boys from seven different schools around the area. His team practices two days a week for two hours starting the second week of January. They go through tackling and rucking drills as well as practicing switches and plays.

Because it isn’t rugby season and they don’t have regular practices, Cormac and his teammates get together every Wednesday to play touch—a modified form of the game which doesn’t involve tackling. Some of his teammates even practice with the men’s club team during the fall. Cormac can’t because he is running cross country, but after the season he will begin practicing with the men.

Although the men are much bigger than the junior team, Cormac doesn’t get intimidated.

“At practice it’s not bad because they try to avoid people getting hurt,” Cormac said.

They try to avoid injuries at practice, but Cormac has still seen his share of injuries. In one game, his and an opponent’s legs got tangled up and he could feel the opponent’s leg snap. Cormac has been lucky to not have any serious injuries from rugby.

Cormac’s mom, Paige O’Connor, doesn’t worry as much about the violence factor because there are more life threatening injuries in football and soccer than in rugby.

“At every football game there’s an ambulance because of the severity of injuries possible,” Paige said. “With rugby, you can get bruises and black eyes but the injuries aren’t as severe.”

Beyond the KC Blue’s junior team, Cormac would like to play in college but won’t limit his school because of rugby. He’s looking at schools like Saint Louis University and Texas A&M but rugby isn’t the deciding factor. If he doesn’t play for the school, there will always be a club team he can play for.

Whether playing in college or for a club team in Ireland, Cormac will continue to love the sport of rugby both for its physicality and how it stands for friendship and camaraderie off the field.