Branding the British and Ireland Lions series, which is bigger than the Rugby World Cup, James O’Connor revealed the sales pitch for a test recall to Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt.
Prospering on the Crusades, O’Connor says he had a “good conversation” with Schmidt about being suddenly in the frame this winter due to the shock return of the Lions’ blockbuster 3 Test series.
“I want to make it bad,” the 34-year-old said after coming off the bench to play the cameo role in NSW Waratah’s 48-33 Super Rugby Pacific victory last Friday.
“I want to join Wallaby again.”
“I don’t have the illusion that there are other people who are playing really well, and there are also fresh young men and those who are coming to their Prime who are doing great work for the club,” O’Connor added.
“But I feel I can add something. The part I can play to help defeat the lion. I’m still bitter about the last tour so I hope I get this victory.
“I feel like I’m doing better than I’ve had for a long time, I’m revitalized and eager to play.”
The role of the Wallabies fly half was assumed to have been in three races between Noah Laurecio, Tom Linag and Ben Donaldson.
However, none of the trio makes any convincing claims, so O’Connor has asserted that he can do the job, and he was able to work for Schmidt with an older head as 34-year-old Dan Carter proved at the All Blacks World Cup in 2015.
O’Connor was only 23 years old when Robbie Deans thrust him into the No. 10 role in the Lions defeat of Wallabies 2-1 series in 2013.
The veteran felt a much more complete Chief Playmaker after 12 years, only to be handed a fly half job first on the 2011 spring tour.
“I’m always in the ears of the lobby and it gives me a crack,” O’Connor said.
“In 2013, I wasn’t shy, but I had a tip on my shoulder.
“I didn’t know how to run the game or manage the game. That Lions series showed me how much I didn’t know.”
O’Connor confessed that he was in school in a 41-16 third Test loss in Sydney by the Wiley Lions like Jonathan Davis and Brian O’Driscoll when the series was on the line.
“I didn’t know what to do in that moment. I had never been before, I wasn’t smart enough, I didn’t have the game knowledge to regain that momentum,” he said.
Smart, who manages his game, came after an adventure abroad in 2013.
“I went to Toulon and started learning from Gits (Matt Giteau) and Jonny Wilkinson, and started picking Ma’a Nonu’s brain and Bryan Habana, and everyone like that,” he said.
“I moved to sales, spent a lot of time with AJ MacGinty and Faf de Klerk, realising how they play the game, and then I meshed it all to my own when I returned to the Reds.”
“I’m not a finished product, but I’ve been learning for the past five years.”
O’Connor, which was primarily deployed in fullback and centers at the 2011 and 2019 World Cups, personally believes the Lions series hasn’t compared to the same global exhibit.
“That’s big, man,” he said. “The World Cup is great, but the Lions, I was blown away.
“I grew up watching leagues and unions, but I have never actually seen the Lions Series before.
“But I was.” Ah, I’ve seen it, and I’ve done the World Cup. So that it can’t be bigger than the World Cup.
“But it was just two teams and I remember every place we were, whether it was Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney. It was just 60,000 people.
“Every time we leave the hotel, we’re just being attacked and the British are not quiet. They’re peeing at 10am, so we’re just walking down the street.
“It was great, a great joke, but it was very overwhelming. On another level.”