Talk to Jack Petelo for half-an-hour and you come off the phone feeling pretty good about life.

That’s because the soon-to-be 39-year-old is one of life’s warm, engaging characters.

The current player/coach at Old Richians, who is an ex-Gloucester Rugby community coach, has a ready laugh and is one of those easy-to-interview types who has a story to tell and is happy to tell it.

Born in Samoa, he is the cousin of Gloucester legend Terry Fanolua who these days heads up the coaching set-up at Old Richians.

Like 43-year-old Fanolua, Petelo learned his rugby in the country of his birth and he certainly has fond memories of those early days.

“We used to roll up a T-shirt and use that as a ball,” he laughed. “We’d just run with it. We didn’t have any posts or anything like that. We’d make our own try-line on the beach or in a small field.”

But there was organised rugby as well and the young Petelo also played for his school team and for his local club.

He played no.8 – he’s pretty much always been a no.8 – and that will come as no surprise to anyone who knows him because he’s pretty solidly built, these days weighing in at around 115 kilos.

Petelo enjoyed life in Samoa – he still goes back home to see his family every couple of years – but in 2000 he got the opportunity to go over to New Zealand and work as a welder, and that was too good to pass up.

He was based in Otahuhu, a suburb of Auckland, and for a rugby-playing enthusiast like Petelo, he couldn’t have picked a better location if he tried.

“Yes, I loved it there,” he said. “I played rugby for Otahuhu who were always one of the top four teams in Auckland. We played in the district league and it was a very difficult competition.

“It was really tough playing against the other island boys but the one thing you could never do was back down.

“I was up for the fight. No matter who was in front of you, you had to match up.”

And while he was up against some pretty tasty players in those days – including the likes of Xavier Rush and Troy Flavell – Petelo absolutely loved his time out there.

“The facilities, the coaching; everything was excellent,” he said. “The rugby was really, really exciting and it was very enjoyable. We used to train on Tuesdays and Thursdays and play on Saturdays just like in this country.”

So why did he leave New Zealand to come to England?

“I came over for a working holiday,” he laughed, “and I’ve never really left. My cousin Terry [Fanolua] and his wife Anne brought me over and it’s all gone from there.”

That was in 2005 when Fanolua’s standout 10 years right at the centre of all things good for Gloucester were drawing to a close.

Fanolua had plenty of contacts in and around Gloucester, of course, and pretty soon the Old Richians chairman Doug White was on the phone offering Petelo the chance to play for the club, who these days play in Gloucester Premier.

So how did he find playing rugby in this part of the world?

“Very muddy,” he laughed. “It was quite different because the ball didn’t move around the pitch like it did back home.

“And playing in Gloucester is a very tough place to play. No-one backs down, no-one wants to lose; it’s very hard.”

Tough it may have been, but when the going gets tough the tough get going and, just like his famous cousin, Petelo had never taken a backward step in his career.

He obviously caught the eye of some pretty impressive rugby people because within two years he had left Old Richians to play semi-professionally for Bracknell, although he continued to live in Gloucestershire.

“I played there for three seasons and it was really good,” he said. “We had a couple of promotions and played in National Three.”

And although he was playing at national league level, he couldn’t get away from his adopted county altogether.

“I remember we used to play teams like Old Pats and Coney Hill,” he chuckled. “They were tough games. The coach at Bracknell was Rory Greenslade-Jones who was playing for Gloucester at the time.

“He always used to say that when you went to Gloucester you knew you were in a game of rugby.”

After Bracknell, Petelo, who lives in Bishop’s Cleeve with his wife Claire and their two young children – Maya and Kapeli – had a spell as coach at Coney Hill before linking up with Fanolua at Old Richians.

While Fanolua looks after the backs, Petelo looks after the forwards and it’s an arrangement that clearly works, because Old Richians have enjoyed two successive promotions and are more than holding their own at the higher level this season.

“It’s a very, very young team,” said Petelo. “There are only three or four players left from when I first played at the club.

“We need to make sure the young players realise they’re good enough and then we just let them play. They’re skilful, quick, exciting and fearless.

“We’ve had quite a few 17-year-olds make their debuts this season and it’s exciting to see.”

And it’s not just the youngsters at Old Richians that Petelo is keen to bring through into the wonderful game that is rugby.

That’s because he’s set up his own company – Petelo Rugby All Stars – which is aimed at providing a quality rugby coaching programme both in and out of schools for all children between the ages of four and 11, and from 12 to 17.

It’s a pretty big commitment, of course, but it’s one that you’d bet your last pound that Petelo will make a success. For details, visit www.petelorugbyallstars.co.uk