MELBOURNE :Fourteen years after being a no-show for a World Cup team photo-shoot, James O’Connor was never going to miss one on Friday for the Wallabies’ squad to face the British & Irish Lions.
Wedged between loose forward Rob Valetini and scrumhalf Jake Gordon, the much-travelled 35-year-old beamed from the front row of the team photo at Lang Park, back in a gold jersey again.
It has been three years since O’Connor played the last of his 64 tests, having been overlooked by Eddie Jones for the 2023 World Cup and by current Wallabies boss Joe Schmidt through his first season.
But with injury befalling the unfortunate Noah Lolesio, circumstances have gifted O’Connor an improbable shot at redemption 12 years on from his ill-fated series against Warren Gatland’s Lions.
“Noah’s injury opened up a doorway for me. And even then, again, I still didn’t think I’d made it,” he told reporters.
“So, to be here right now and to be given the opportunity to be with this group of men, I’m bloody excited.”
Back in the 2013 Lions series, O’Connor was both the pin-up and the bad boy of Australian rugby, boasting a fantastic highlights reel and a record of off-field indiscretions.
One of the so-called “Three Amigos” with Kurtley Beale and Quade Cooper, O’Connor’s transgressions included a food fight, a late-night scuffle with teammates in Paris, and sleeping through the Wallabies team photo for the 2011 World Cup.
He was nonetheless the surprise pick for starting flyhalf to face the Lions, beating out Cooper, Berrick Barnes and Christian Leali’ifano.
He took plenty of flak for the Wallabies’ 2-1 defeat and caused a media storm midway through the series by being photographed with Beale at a fast food outlet near 4 a.m.
That image came to symbolise a general breakdown in discipline under coach Robbie Deans, who resigned days after the Wallabies were thrashed 41-16 in the Sydney decider.
Now, with a self-awareness built over a long career of ups and downs, O’Connor looks back at the series with some regret.
“I don’t tend to eat Hungry Jacks anymore,” O’Connor told reporters with a wry smile.
“It left a bad taste in my mouth. My after-match meals have changed a lot.
“I know how big of an occasion (the Lions) is. It’s bigger than a World Cup. And I thought I took it for granted.”
DEFY CRITICS
Plenty of water has gone under the bridge since.
He has brushed off disappointments, survived poor errors of judgement and continued to work hard to defy critics who have repeatedly written him off.
Struggling with injuries, he looked a spent force last year in his final season at the Queensland Reds, largely relegated to mentoring young flyhalves Tom Lynagh and Lawson Creighton.
But a surprise move to New Zealand’s South Island paid off as he helped Rob Penney’s Canterbury Crusaders reclaim the Super Rugby championship three weeks ago.
Penney used him as a replacement flyhalf off the bench, and Schmidt may elect to do the same against the Lions, even if O’Connor fancies himself in the golden number 10.
“Of course I want the spot, yeah. Look, genuinely, we’ll see what happens,” he said.
“But obviously I think maybe the other guys have the first bite of the cherry.”
Those ‘guys’ are Lynagh, son of Wallabies great Michael, and Ben Donaldson, who have 20 caps between them.
Schmidt said O’Connor would be playing catch-up with the Wallabies playbook but had enough experience to be ready in time for the first test in Brisbane on July 19.
“Having been there and done that, he can pass on that experience, as I said, in a pretty calm manner,” said Schmidt.
