‘I’m loving it here’: Corkman Rory Parata relishing Cornish Pirates’ famous victory over Saracens

Rory Parata’s rugby career has taken him from Sunday’s Well via Connacht and Zebre to Cornish Pirates

PIRATE OF PENZANCE: Rory Parata’s rugby career has taken him from Sunday’s Well via Connacht and Zebre to Cornish Pirates. Picture: David Rogers

It’s funny the places life takes you and wonderful if you see the world through Rory Parata’s eyes. Born in Sydney to an Irish mother and father from New Zealand, raised in Passage West, County Cork, the 26-year-old’s rugby career has taken him from Sunday’s Well via Connacht and Zebre to Penzance and the upwardly mobile Cornish Pirates.

The Green King IPA Championship, England’s second tier, is littered with young Irishmen like Parata, unable to break into their provincial first teams at home but able to keep playing professionally and retaining ambitions of reaching the highest levels.