Still only 24 despite an impressive background, the stand-off joins from fellow National One side Bishop’s Stortford, who he inspired to a fine away victory against his new club back in February.
Explaining his decision to join, Mike began: “I know a few of the guys like Andrew Lamb, Ben Atkins and Zach Clow, so I got their thoughts and then speaking to Seb it’s clear the club wants another big push towards The Championship.
“I know it wasn’t as good this year as before, but it’s exciting for me to join somewhere historically who’ve been near the top and want to go up – I want to play the highest level I can.
“The professionalism when I came for the gym tests and health checks recently, it’s the environment I want to be in because I want to push my personal standards higher to also help the team.
“The ambition was one of the main things which attracted me to Rams.”
Impressive junior CV
Mike’s rugby career started originally as a Mini at Andover, then at The Westgate School in Winchester where he quickly caught the eye, joining the London Irish Academy from the age of 14 and then able to get involved with Irish Exiles due to his grandparents, Michael and Marie, hailing from the west of Ireland and his dad, David, from Dublin.
Further opportunities arose after he was awarded a Sixth Form scholarship to northern England powerhouse Sedbergh School, going two years unbeaten in a team which included Rams’ Sale FC loan nemesis Tom Curtis.
They were also back-to-back Rosslyn Park Sevens champions, with Mike adding: “Playing on that circuit against the likes of Wellington, Millfield, Winchester gives you good exposure, and I got picked for Ireland Under 18s in Lower Sixth based off that.”
The No. 10 – who has also played scrum-half – headed to Brunel University next, which had begun to double up as the Ealing Trailfinders Academy.
This meant a first adult pre-season on loan at Esher as an 18-year-old, then playing a full term in National Two South with Sutton & Epsom.
Ireland switch
The Covid pandemic put Mike’s career on hold for two seasons, but an opportunity to switch back to Ireland arose ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.
There he would combine studying sports journalism at the University of Limerick, alongside playing for Shannon in the All Ireland League Division One.
Despite coming up against players such as the Osborne brothers (Jamie and Andrew and Connacht’s Ben Murphy – Sam Prendergast featuring in the competition at the same time – Mike believes the overall quality back in England has been higher.
He explained: “I’d say the leading teams would be strong in National One, but whereas the league here is so tight from top to bottom – anyone can genuinely beat anyone on their day, that probably isn’t quite the same in the AIL.
“There’s a bigger split between the top and bottom halves there, so I had to find my feet early on, especially as Stortford had Blackheath, Plymouth, Rams and a couple of other strong sides early season.”
Having racked up 115 points in just 14 appearances last term – Mike was left out for 10 games after helping Bishop’s Stortford become the only team to win at Rotherham Titans – he explained what he is looking to bring to OBR.
‘I like to be versatile’
He said: “I like to try and be a threat myself, from my Sedbergh days we never kicked the ball and loved to play running rugby, but also like in the game at Rams I think I can control a match with tactical kicking.
“I like to be versatile. If it’s dry and we can zip passes round the pitch then great, but if it’s a day where we need to ping the corners and take points off the tee, I believe I can do that as well.
“My strongest asset last year was my kicking percentage off the tee – to get more than 100 points in half a season was pleasing and I’ll want to keep that up.
“I can’t wait to come in and meet all the fans, I’ve heard about the atmosphere and I’m looking forward to building a bond with the Ramily.
“Hopefully I can push the team towards the top of the table and I’m buzzing for the first chance to run out at Old Bath Road.”
*Picture by Emma Cox Photography
