Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has highlighted the importance of James O’Connor’s experience after the playmaker was named in the squad to take on the British & Irish Lions, with that Test series starting next Saturday at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.
O’Connor hasn’t played for the Wallabies since starting at fly-half under Dave Rennie during The Rugby Championship in 2022, but the fly-half soared back into the selection frame during a promising campaign in Super Rugby Pacific.
Taha Kemara and Rivez Reihana were the two main starters for the Crusaders last season, but O’Connor was a reliable option off the bench during the team’s run to the title, including a match-winning difference against the Blues at Apollo Projects Stadium.
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O’Connor averaged 24 minutes per game for the Crusaders, coming off the bench in 15 of 16 appearances for the eventual champions, yet the calls for the 35-year-old to be selected for higher honours grew louder throughout the season.
While O’Connor missed out on the first squad of the year, an unfortunate injury to regular starter Noah Lolesio has prompted a change. O’Connor was named alongside Ben Donaldson and Tom Lynagh, who have less than 20 Test appearances between the two of them.
“I had a few conversations with James during the year,” Schmidt said on Stan Sport’s Wallabies Squad Announcement.
“He had a good Super season for the Crusaders. He stayed close, he stayed connected the whole way through.
“His experience was something that helped Tom Lynagh last year here in [Brisbane] and with the Reds, so that experience can potentially help the players again, particularly our young 10s as they continue to progress as well.”
O’Connor’s inclusion is one of two changes to the squad that took on Fiji, with Reds lock Josh Canham also named. Uncapped prospects Nick Champion de Crespigny and Corey Toole potentially debut against the Lions as well.
Coach Schmidt has picked 20 forwards and 16 backs to take on the Lions, including the likes of Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Rob Valetini, Will Skelton and Fraser McReight. Harry Wilson has also been named, but whether the backrower captains the side is yet to be confirmed.
The Wallabies have eight days in Brisbane now ahead of the first Test at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium next Saturday, before the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Sydney’s Accor Stadium.
“I congratulate them on the hard work they’ve done and I challenge them to keep working really hard because they’re going to be challenged and there’s no two ways about that,” Schmidt explained.
“The Lions, they’re going to bring whatever they’ve got and whatever they’ve got, there’s power and strength and depth and an ability to play at a pace that we’ve seen just unpick teams, particularly in that last quarter or the second half of games so far.
“That’s going to be a real challenge for them. I challenge them and congratulate them and I can’t wait to get started working with them to be honest.”
