Twelve years after being brutally thrown to the wolves, James O’Connor’s shot at redemption is one giant step closer after being named in Joe Schmidt’s squad to face the Lions.
The freshly turned 35-year-old received a late birthday present on Friday morning as he was called into the Wallabies almost three years after playing his last Test against Los Pumas in Argentina.
After Noah Lolesio’s season-ending injury, the Super Rugby winner, who came off the bench for the Crusaders in their recent triumph, O’Connor was sent an SOS as the third fly-half in the 36-man squad. He joins Ben Donaldson and his former prodigy, Tom Lynagh, as the other playmakers.
Schmidt said O’Connor’s experience was considered when picking the team.
“He had a good Super season with the Crusaders. He stayed close, he stayed connected the whole way through and his experience was something that helped Tom Lynagh last year here at Suncorp and with the Reds,” Schmidt said.
“That experience can potentially help the players again, particularly the young 10s, as they continue to progress as well.”
Speaking to media, a beaming O’Connor admitted he thought Schmidt was ‘taking the piss’ when informing him off the call-up – and said he only found out less than two hours before the squad was officially announced.
“Everyone was already at the hotel … the boys always say if you get a call, no news is good news, apparently,” he said.
“He [Schmidt] said he had given me a call – I literally hadn’t seen it. He shook my hand and told me, and I double-checked and was like ‘Yeah, he’s serious’.
“So here we are!
“It hasn’t sunk in. I found out an hour, an hour and a half ago, so it’s just a whirlwind.”
O’Connor admitted that the Wallabies’ other potential No.10s, most obviously Tom Lynagh and Ben Donaldson, would have ‘first bite at the cherry’ to be named for the first Lions Test – but that he believes he can offer experience to the entire squad.
“We’ll see what happens,” O’Connor said.
“Anything I can do to help – and that’s what I’ve said to Joe in the past – any bit of knowledge I can share. I know how big of an occasion it is, it’s bigger than a World Cup.
“You get one shot at it – usually – so you want your aim to be true.”
His stunning return comes 12 years after Robbie Deans thrust the then-23-year old into the No.10 jersey for all three Tests in 2013, which finished with the Lions winning the series 2-1.
O’Connor had previously started just one Test in the role.
It’s understood Wallabies selectors had always wanted an older head in the camp after Lolesio’s injury – it just came down to which one.
While O’Connor moved across the ditch this season, the veteran’s proven match-winning ability in Super Rugby this season, coupled with his intimate knowledge of many of the Wallabies after five years at the Reds, saw selectors pick him ahead of Bernard Foley and Kurtley Beale.
James O’Connor was the headline inclusion in Joe Schmidt’s 36-man squad to face the Lions. (Photo by Paul Devlin/SNS Group via Getty Images)
By winning selection, he is in line to become just the third player, along with James Slipper, to take on the Lions in successive campaigns after Wallabies great George Smith. Smith, who starred in the successful 2001 series, started against the Lions in the third Test in Sydney in 2013.
The only other new face to the squad was Josh Canham, with the Reds second-rower, who delivered an eye-catching performance against the Lions during his provincial match last week, picked ahead of Darcy Swain who was brutally left out just weeks after his first call up in more than two years.
Physical duo Will Skelton and Rob Valetini were also picked despite being under injury clouds. The pair picked up calf injuries during Wallabies camp in recent weeks and are believed to be racing the clock to be back in time for the July 19 opener.
Back-rower Nick Champion de Crespigny and flying winger Corey Toole, who scored on Wednesday against the Lions in Canberra, remain the only two uncapped faces in the squad.
“As Wallabies coaches, we have tried to balance continuity with form and freshness, but there were some very tight calls,” Schmidt said in a statement.
“We’re conscious of how special it is to play the British and Irish Lions, so for those selected in the squad, they’ll be competing for Test jerseys, while also trying to help others prepare.
“We need to improve our accuracy and cohesion with a very short runway leading up to the first Test here in eight days.
“We are excited by what’s to come.”
Twelve years after facing the British and Irish Lions, James O’Connor will get another chance to face the famed team after being included in Joe Schmidt’s 36-man squad. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
O’Connor had long craved a second chance at the Lions.
After sensationally being picked ahead of close mate Quade Cooper in 2013, the playmaker struggled to own the big moments and had long admitted he wasn’t properly equipped to handle the pressure cooker environment.
“I had no idea about how to run a game or manage a game,” said O’Connor, whose only previous start in the Wallabies No.10 jersey came against Wales in late 2011.
“I wanted that 10 jersey, but I hadn’t done the work to earn it.
“But what I know now compared to a 23-year-old me who was playing there, well, that’s over a decade of footy. Not that I knew nothing, but I knew nothing about managing a game.
“I was better at some things. I was pretty quick, and I could step guys in a phone booth. But that’s probably the gist of it.
“But that Lions series, I think it just showed me how much I didn’t know.
“We got into a place where the game needed something from me to step up. But I didn’t know what to do in that moment.
“I’d never been in it before, and I wasn’t smart enough. I didn’t have the game knowledge to be able to get that momentum back. I didn’t understand what to play off in different line-outs, what parts of the field you can look for a kick, how to manipulate that backfield.”
Twelve years on and O’Connor, who said the Lions series was bigger than a World Cup in terms of the intensity he had experienced, recently insisted he was ready for a second chance.
“I’d love to be a part of it again,” he told reporters in Sydney in May following the Crusaders’ win over the Waratahs.
“But I’m under no illusion that there’s other guys who are playing really well and there’s fresh young men who are coming into their prime and are doing a great job for their clubs as well.
“I do feel like I could add something, whether that’s just a part of the squad or doing that role as a finisher.
“But, look, at the end of the day, like Joe said, it’s who’s going to be stepping up in the last couple rounds of Super and finals footy. Finals footy is the closest thing to Test footy, so that’s going to be the test.”
Wallabies squad to face Lions:
Forwards (20)
Allan Alaalatoa, Angus Bell, Josh Canham, Nick Champion De Crespigny, Matt Faessler, Nick Frost, Langi Gleeson, Tom Hooper, Fraser McReight, Zane Nonggorr, Billy Pollard, David Porecki, Tom Robertson, Will Skelton, James Slipper, Carlo Tizzano, Taniela Tupou, Rob Valetini, Jeremy Williams, Harry Wilson
Backs (16)
Filipo Daugunu, Ben Donaldson, Jake Gordon, Len Ikitau, Max Jorgensen, Andrew Kellaway, Tom Lynagh, Tate McDermott, James O’Connor, Hunter Paisami, Dylan Pietsch, Harry Potter, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Corey Toole, Nic White, Tom Wright
