Kevin O'Kane is an Australian former professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. O'Kane was an Australian Schoolboys representative player, educated at

St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill St Joseph's College (abbreviated as SJC and commonly called ''Joeys'') is an independent Catholic secondary day and boarding school for boys, conducted in the Marist Brothers tradition, located in Hunters Hill, a suburb on the Lower North Sh ...

. O'Kane played across the amateur and professional era for NSW. He made his NSW debut in 1992 off the bench against the All Blacks as a number eight. He made eight NSW appearances for NSW prior to the first Super 12 tournament. A hooker, O'Kane served as an understudy to Phil Kearns for the

New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), often referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team based in Sydney that represents the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby Pacific competition. The Waratahs play t ...

during the 1990s and made the occasional appearance in the

1996 Super 12 season The 1996 Super 12 season was the inaugural season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 1996, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular s ...

, before leaving for a stint at

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...

. O'Kane won three premierships with

Gordon Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Gordon Heuck ...

, playing over 100 first grade games, at times forming a front row with Wallabies Cam Blades, Andrew Blades and

Mark Hartill Mark Hartill (born 29 May 1964) is an Australian former representative Rugby Union prop. He was a member of the Australian squad at the 1987 and 1995 Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every ...

His father

Seamus O'Kane Seamus may refer to: * Séamus, a Gaelic male given name Film and television * Seamus (''Family Guy''), a character on the television series ''Family Guy'' * Seamus, a pigeon in '' Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore'' * Seamus McFly, a fic ...

played for

Donegal GAA The Donegal County Board () or Donegal GAA is one of 32 county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Ireland, and is responsible for the administration of Gaelic games in County Donegal. The County Board is responsible for prepari ...

, before migrating to Australia to work on the Snowy Scheme. O'Kane has five children, Oliver, Henry O'Kane, Scarlett, Charlie O'Kane, Harvey. . In 1999, O'Kane retired from rugby due to recurring knee injuries, aged 28.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OKane, Kevin Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Australian rugby union players Rugby union hookers New South Wales Waratahs players Gordon RFC players London Irish players Australian expatriate rugby union players in England People educated at St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill