When we had chatted with Orene, he’d just returned from the Great Northwest Challenge in Oregon where the NorCal All-Stars dominated. The Sac Varsity All Stars team went 4-0, the Bay Area Varsity All Stars went 3-1, the Girls Varsity dropped just one game and the Girls JV went on to win it all. “It’s impressive to see all this talent and to see that the development is happening so much earlier” a reflective Orene shared.

So how did Orene end up with Life West (in the East Bay) a few years ago and help them win a USA Rugby D2 National Championship? “I was having a lot of fun coaching the youth and the games were on Friday nights, so my Saturdays were free. I felt I was still in good shape and my body was rested, so I just posted something on Facebook asking what are some good rugby clubs” says Orene. One of the people to respond to his post was Adriaan Ferris, who had taken over the Life West programs. Ferris had coached Orene when he played with Northland in the ITC Cup competition back in New Zealand and so he offered for Orene to come play at Life West with him. Now, for Orene it was appealing to rejoin Ferris a prior coach of his, but there was the issue of the commute. It’s about a two hour drive each way not counting any traffic.

After discussing the options, Coach Ferris allowed Orene to make it to training once a week, as long as he maintained his own fitness. So each Thursday during the season Orene would finish his coaching duties with Granite Bay, get in the car to make the two hour drive to Hayward to train with Life West and then after that drive the two hours back home to Sacramento.



In his case, this arrangement worked. Orene was still fit and as a former professional and international 7s player he knew how to maintain his own fitness and so he was able to get by with being at Life West’s training once a week. Also his knowledge of the game allowed him to adapt and understand the game plan that Ferris was implementing just being there once a week. “It was worth the time and effort” recalls Orene “when we won the D2 National Championship!”

Orene was one of the early big name players to become involved with PRO Rugby (specifically the San Francisco Rush). “Coach Ferris was involved in the early discussions, and he kept telling me that they may be professional rugby starting in the US and if it did that NorCal was one of the places it would start” Orene recounted. So when it did come to fruition, Orene had some options. A team was set up in the bay area where he played and a team was set up in Sacramento where he lived, but when Ferris went to be an assistant coach with the SF Rush, Orene opted to continued to play with his coach whom he had experience with and a personal relationship. "When PRO was starting out I felt I was still physically able to play, and I was really excited to be a part of this new opportunity in the USA, and to be a pioneer” recalls Orene.



Now, Orene has played rugby professionally almost half of this life. He has played in Super Rugby, the HSBC Sevens World Series circuit, for All Blacks, in Japan and with Toulonnais (Toulon) in the French Top 14. Going to play in PRO for him was not unusual and he initially though being one of the older players he could provide some guidance and leadership to the newer players who were getting their first experience at being professionals in the game.

We asked Orene if PRO Rugby was a subject he wanted to talk about, as there were players who have some legal disputes and have opted not to speak about it. Orene laughing says “yeah mate…Well they terminated the contracts right so people can say whatever they want, but I’m fine with talking about the experience”.

When PRO started, Orene found it very promising. He reported that many players were excited about the opportunity to play rugby and get paid for it, to be able to do that full-time was a dream for many, and for Orene, he was more excited that they boys got to experience being a professional rugby player than him playing professionally again.

“I’ll tell you there was a lot that we were told to expect, for it to be a real professional setting, but there wasn’t a lot of delivery” noted a disappointed Orene. He said that he and others were excited to be professionals, but for the Rush the issue early on was with facilities. They were not able to get the training facilities they needed. “I’m not knocking soccer, but you are a professional team and players having to split a field with a social soccer group... that doesn’t make you feel like a professional” he said. He did note that this was his experience with the Rush, and that the guys in Ohio and other teams seemed to have better set up and access to resources. “What is frustrating is you are trying to get young guys, new professional guys to get into that mind set, but they didn’t have what they needed to be professionals. We did our best and the coaches and the boys stayed positive and made it work”.

Orene, a class act wouldn’t make excuses, but it was clear from the discussion that the inconsistency with being able to train at a set spot/times, the lack of stability and resources available to the Rush did impact one of the more talented teams in the PRO competition.

We asked him “In the end did PRO help or hurt rugby in the USA”? He responded instantly with “it was good for rugby. Any time you can have something like that even if it didn’t work out was good. Look at the guys like David Tameilau or Langilangi who got to be seen and make it to Eagles and other professional opportunities”. Orene goes on saying“I played against Langilangi when he was with EPA and I was with Life West, and without PRO, national selectors wouldn’t have had a chance to see him. So many guys got to be seen because of PRO. It’s really a pity it didn’t work out as I do think it would have been great for rugby in the USA. I hope the new MLR takes a look at that and can learn from it”.

Orene said from an international standpoint he is concerned that many talented players in NorCal who play D1, who got a chance to be seen with the likes of PRO may not have a way to showcase their abilities now for the Eagles. “I hope if the MLR grows, that the teams do look at some of these guys playing in NorCal’s D1 and give them a shot”.