By MARK CASHMAN

Warringah prop Rory O’Connor has always been a man of few words but he made an indelible statement with a man of the match performance in the Battle of the Beaches against Manly on Saturday.

O’Connor scrummaged strongly and did all the other prop stuff to his usual standards, but it was his running game that caught the eye in the Rats’ 40-14 win at Pittwater Rugby Park.

The 27-year-old made a number of telling breaks in general play, mostly through the middle of the field, with two of those leading to tries.

“It felt like I was a 22-year-old again,” O’Connor told Rugby News.