James O’Connor, after his outstanding performance with the Crusaders, has expressed his desire to return to the Wallabies and participate in the series against the British & Irish Lions, an event he considers of greater magnitude than the Rugby World Cup.
O’Connor busca un lugar en los Wallabies
O’Connor, 34, has held a “good conversation” with Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt about the possibility of a surprise return for the three-match series against the Lions in Australia this winter.
I want to be involved with the Wallabies again.
James O’Connor
The player, who has shone in his role as a substitute in the Crusaders, feels that he can still contribute a lot to the team, especially in the quest for victory against the Lions.
O’Connor acknowledges the quality of the young players, but believes his experience could be an added value. “I feel I can contribute something. Any role I can play to help us beat the Lions,” he added.
The Wallabies’ opening position was expected to be contested between Noah Lolesio, Tom Lynagh, and Ben Donaldson. However, O’Connor is confident in his ability to fill that position.
O’Connor, who was included in the opening position by Robbie Deans at the age of 23 in the 2013 series against the Lions, feels that he is now a much more complete player. “In 2013, I wasn’t intimidated, but I had a grudge, I was sure I was the best. I believed I could do the job,” he said.
The player admitted to having learned a lot from experienced figures like Jonathan Davies and Brian O’Driscoll in the defeat of the third match of the series in Sydney. “I didn’t know what to do at that moment. I had never been in that situation before and I wasn’t smart enough, I didn’t have the game knowledge to regain that momentum,” he commented.
His development as a game strategist came after playing abroad in 2013. “I went to Toulon and started learning from Gits (Matt Giteau) and Jonny Wilkinson, and even learning from Ma’a Nonu and Bryan Habana and those types of players,” he recounted.
“I moved to Sale and spent a lot of time with AJ MacGinty and also with Faf de Klerk, understanding how they play and then combined it all into my own experience when I returned to the Reds,” he added.
O’Connor, who has played primarily as fullback and center in the 2011 and 2019 World Cups, considers a Lions series to be an event of greater magnitude. “It’s bigger, man. World Cups are amazing, but the Lions, they blew me away,” he stated.
“I grew up watching the league and rugby, but I’d never really watched a Lions series before and the older players had said how big it was. But I was thinking, ‘Oh, look, I’ve done a World Cup, great, it can’t get any bigger than a World Cup.’ But it’s only two teams and I remember in every place we went, whether it was Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney, there were 60,000 people,” he finished.
