O’Rourke gained his call up to the SEOB 3rd XV aged 15, after knocking over a drop goal in the 2012 u16’s Lancashire plate final in front of captain Tom Nuttall. The Old Boys skipper thought he had unearthed a gem, but in fact he had unearthed a player whose knees and shoulders have failed him beyond belief and he is probably best retiring. If he was a horse he would certainly have been put down by now. Here we find out more about this broken old man.

1) How did you get involved in rugby as a child?

It’s all down to my dad really. He took me to Collegiate when I was 6. I played there till year 7 and then just continued playing for school on a Saturday morning. Half of our Collegiate age group went to Liverpool College and the other half went to Eddies which developed a beautifully bitter relationship between the two sides.

2) How did you get involved in the Old Boys?

Like many of us, it’s all down to one man really, Tom Nuttall. I first played for the Old Boys when I was about 15 I think after being groomed by Nutty in the CI. I played in the 3s a few times but stopped after I realised old blokes got pleasure out of consistently hurting me.

3) How does the Old Boys compare to past clubs you’ve played for?

When I left school I went to Waterloo and although I enjoyed it, it wasn’t the same as playing with the lads you’ve played week in week out with for over 10 years in some cases. I had a lot of trouble with my knees, I had 5 knee ops in a short space of time so I packed in playing as I wasn’t enjoying it anymore. When Nuttall got the Old Boys going again he asked me to come down but I was adamant that I wouldn’t. Stupidly, I went to the CI one evening and he gave me the same talk he gave me as 15 year old, he sold me the dream again and I signed on the dotted line. I’ve loved being back ever since.

4) Describe your ideal weekend 

My ideal weekend would probably be spent on the West coast of Scotland doing something outdoors related. I'm a big fan of getting away from human contact and not having any access to the internet.

5) Who had the biggest influence on your school rugby career?

That’s hard, all the coaches in Eddies influence you in different ways. We had Broxson in year 7, he didn’t let you kick and made you tie your socks up, he’s the reason I'm awful at kicking but never get muddy shins. Dominic McKenzie and Chris Ryan probably influenced me into going the gym as they were big units and made me feel completely inferior. Mr Ryan would also have post training fight club if Mckenzie wasn’t there which I enjoyed watching from a distance. Pete Buckton embarrassed me into learning how to tackle properly (ish) and Gareth Davies brought all these different components together and coached are year into being a decent 1st XV.

6) What do you do Monday to Friday?

I'm a mentor at an alternative education provider. We work with young people who have had multiple exclusions from mainstream schools and are normally involved in quite heavy stuff. Its dead interesting and the kids are quite funny when they want to be. In some ways, it’s the equivalent of playing rugby with Daniel Borg-Oliver every Saturday!

7) What’s your favourite part of the Old Boys?

My part favourite part of the Old Boys has to be how together the group is. There's no cliques its just one big group of mates. I like how we've got loads of lads from the school, but we've increasingly got more players from different schools and clubs or from the unis and they have all bought in to what we're trying to build. The only anomaly is Borgy.

8) Do you play any other sports?

I love my cricket. I'm a bit of a cricket nerd. There's nothing better than watching a test match, I'm not into any of this T20 nonsense but I'll watch the on day stuff if that's one. I play at Alder CC just down the road, I'm a very part time groundsman and my 2019 stats would suggest I'm also a very part time player. I've recruited our star player Josh Abley to come down and solidify our top order. 

9) Who’s the best player you’ve played with in an Eddies shirt?

Marc Doughty has asked me to name him here. He is a very strong runner with ball in hand but getting the ball in his hands is problematic as he can’t catch at all. He likes letting people know he receives 3 beer tokens a game to play rugby now too. It would be good to see him back in an Old Boy’s shirt once he’s finished hopping from club to club in Staffordshire despite living in London through the week. 

10) Where do you see the Old Boys in 5 years’ time?

In 5 year’s time, I’d like to see the Old Boys competing at a decent level in the RFU leagues. There's so much potential in the side, the core of the team is a group of talented younger lads who are already club stalwarts. The work Nuttall and the other lads have done over the last few years is brilliant and the club is only going to get better. It’s genuinely great to be a part of.