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March 27, 2026 \u2014 3:30pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n After 17 seasons of professional rugby, veteran playmaker James O\u2019Connor has learned one valuable lesson: no coaching decision is personal, no matter how brutal they may seem from the outside.<\/p>\n In November, O\u2019Connor wasn\u2019t selected for the Wallabies\u2019 end-of-year tour Tests against England or Italy and went on holiday to Morocco.<\/p>\n He was recalled to start against Ireland in Dublin \u2013 but after the Wallabies lost, he was told by coach Joe Schmidt he wasn\u2019t needed against France the following week, even as a squad member. The five-eighth then returned to his English club, Leicester. He maintains that while the decision was difficult, it was still part of the plan.<\/p>\n \u201cI actually commentated [on] the England game [in November], I spoke to Joe [Schmidt] right after that game, and then he just said, \u2018Where are you at? How are you feeling? Do you want to come in [to play]?\u2019 I was like, \u2018Of course I want to come in\u2019,\u201d O\u2019Connor said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just a case-by-case of how the guys were feeling, and I think Carter [Gordon] was back for that next one [France]. So as soon as he was back, Joe just said, pretty much, \u2018Look, Carter\u2019s back, and I don\u2019t want you just to hang around and hold a [tackle] pad, we want you to get back to Leicester and do your duty for them because they\u2019ve been so good with us\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cI was just coming in for that one week [against Ireland], and I would have put my hand up again if the guys needed me, but Carter was back, he got the job, so then I came back [to Leicester] and got cracking again.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Connor\u2019s whirlwind yearJune 2025: wins Super Rugby title with the Crusaders in Christchurch against the Chiefs;July 2025: named in Wallabies 36-man squad for the British and Irish Lions series, after last playing for Australia three years before. Doesn\u2019t play a Test against the Lions;August 2025: starts for Wallabies against South Africa in Ellis Park, helping end a 62-year wait for a win at the venue;September 2025: arrives to train at new club Leicester, and leaves within days to play for the Wallabies against New Zealand in Eden Park and plays next game in Perth;November 2025: not picked for Wallabies against England and Italy, returns to play against Ireland, before being dropped against France.\u00a0<\/p>\n O\u2019Connor remains in touch with Schmidt and maintains that there are no hard feelings about the decision not to take him to Paris.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was more them [the Wallabies] helping me out with load [management] and that sort of stuff. I\u2019m not going to lie, it does hurt, but I\u2019ve been in and out of teams through my whole career,\u201d O\u2019Connor said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been to the top of the mountain and then dropped. It\u2019s not the first time it\u2019s happened to me. Not that it gets easier, but you\u2019ve got to understand nothing is personal, number one.<\/p>\n \u201cNumber two, I know where I\u2019m at in my career, I know my worth and I know what I can do on the rugby field. I\u2019m an open book. If you think I can add value, great, I want to add value. If you go in a different direction as well, that\u2019s fine too. Eventually, there\u2019s going to be a younger guy that comes through and is playing for Australia and I totally understand it all.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Connor also believes his reaction to being dropped is now different to when he was younger and saw his life through a narrow prism of success and failure. O\u2019Connor is thriving at Leicester and recently lifted the Premiership Cup.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was very different to how I was when I was younger, but I learned that lesson pretty early, you cannot ride that rollercoaster,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re young, every game, it\u2019s like you take your whole life\u2019s worth based on how you played, if you played poorly on a Saturday, your whole week can be affected.<\/p>\n \u201cIt affects your private life, your personal life. It affects so many different things. The great thing about rugby is there\u2019s always a game next week, and there\u2019s always something to get involved in.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Connor is regularly playing in front of packed houses against some of the best teams in Europe, but understands it is only for one season. His ultimate ambition is to return to finish his rugby career in Australia.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d love to come back to Australia to play if that opportunity arises, but at the moment, my focus is on Leicester and doing well for the club and I\u2019m really enjoying myself here and we\u2019ve already won some silverware, so we will see what happens,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n O\u2019Connor, who played for Wallabies coach-in-waiting Les Kiss at the Queensland Reds, still wants to play for his country and believes that it starts with playing well for Leicester. The English club is challenging for the league title under former Wallabies assistant coach Geoff Parling.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are other guys in Super Rugby who are playing at the moment and doing well, it\u2019s all about whether they get the first crack [for the Wallabies in July], but Joe [Schmidt] knows me now,\u201d O\u2019Connor said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve built a good relationship and obviously, I played under Les for a year [at the Reds] so I\u2019ve got a good rapport with Les as well and I really enjoyed working under him.<\/p>\n \u201cI know they know what I can do on the field and then it\u2019s just about the opportunity coming up, chatting with a lot of the guys back home, there haven\u2019t been too many conversations about Wallaby spots … the best thing I can do is keep performing well and keep getting some game time and building my game.<\/p>\n \u201cLike I said even last year and the year before, if I\u2019m playing well enough, the coaches will find a way to fit you in.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Connor has built a good life in Leicester; he has the best dog walks scoped out and just before this interview, revelled in his role as a quizmaster for fans of the club.<\/p>\n Another perspective But old habits die hard and he is still a regular viewer of Super Rugby and has been impressed by Declan Meredith\u2019s progress as five-eighth at the Brumbies. O\u2019Connor believes Meredith can step up to the highest level, but also understands there is a significant jump from Super Rugby to the Test arena.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he\u2019s done so well, I feel like he could take his game to that next level, but it is an interesting thing,\u201d O\u2019Connor said.<\/p>\n \u201cI know Morgan Turinui said it [on Stan Sport], how you don\u2019t want to throw the young guys to the wolves too early, but it\u2019s about how you blood them. I think New Zealand rugby does that really well in terms of how they bring them [playmakers] through, they bide their time, but that\u2019s one thing I noticed coming up to Test rugby as a 10, it\u2019s a really different game in terms of that jump up.\u201d<\/p>\n At 35-years-old, O\u2019Connor knows his time as a player is running out and he is determined to savour every moment.<\/p>\n Through trial and error, O\u2019Connor sees the game differently to when he was a teenage sensation playing on raw instinct. On Wednesday, O\u2019Connor finished kicking practice in gale-force wind and rain in Leicester and left with a smile. The parts of rugby he once reviled are being savoured.<\/p>\n \u201cI love every element of it, and the older I get, the more I see it as a game strategy and not just physicality,\u201d O\u2019Connor said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou probably lose a bit of speed, but you also gain a bit of wisdom. I call it playing a little bit of chess, being able to manipulate the backfield, being able to read flows, being able to see shapes, all those sort of things. You don\u2019t get to that place until you get a bit older and you\u2019ve played.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen patterns unfold hundreds of times and got it wrong that many times that I\u2019ve got to eventually get it right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Watch every match of Super Rugby Pacific<\/a> live and exclusive on Stan Sport<\/a>. <\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"James](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/f996843d37b54c9364cc60d989b5c95f00b514d8.jpeg\")
James O\u2019Connor in action for the Wallabies against South Africa in Cape Town last year.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"James](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/b259caa8e19dc30f724a479f9023ed022151d13e.jpeg\")
James O\u2019Connor is thriving in Leicester playing under former Wallabies assistant Geoff Parling.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Dan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774517292_218_f0a1290031e54c81080a8ae53514299162a64f73.jpeg\")
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James O\u2019Connor has been keeping a close eye on Brumbies playmaker Declan Meredith.Getty Images<\/p>\n