{"id":125501,"date":"2025-09-09T16:01:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T16:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/125501\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T16:01:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T16:01:06","slug":"leicester-involved-in-tug-of-war-over-reformed-character-james-oconnor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/125501\/","title":{"rendered":"Leicester involved in tug-of-war over reformed character James O’Connor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

James O\u2019Connor is involved in a tug-of-love between Leicester<\/a> and the Wallabies over when he will arrive in England.<\/p>\n

The veteran stand-off is part of the Australia<\/a> squad currently taking part in The Rugby Championship<\/a> and came off the bench to steer the side to a dramatic victory over Argentina<\/a> last weekend.<\/p>\n

However, Tigers\u2019 new head coach Geoff Parling<\/a> is hoping to leverage his close bond with Joe Schmidt to secure an early release, allowing the 35-year-old to start the PREM season. Leicester open up with a game against Bristol<\/a> at Ashton Gate on Sunday, 28 September.<\/p>\n

Parling was formerly Schmidt\u2019s assistant before he left for Leicester after the Lions<\/a> series.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a conversation two days ago, but conversations about these things are always ongoing because it depends on the player\u2019s availability,\u201d said Parling.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hopeful of getting him. We want to get him here soon, but I\u2019m sure Joe would like to keep him as well. I have a really good relationship with Joe. We\u2019ll keep talking.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lost a lot of experience last year \u2013 I think it was over 500 caps\u2019 worth of experience \u2013 so we need someone who can come in and help the younger guys, who are hopefully ready to really take a grip of this club, to manage a game. In terms of playing his role and the position he\u2019s in, he knows how to manage a game.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s also a good pro now. I think he knows in his younger days he wasn\u2019t necessarily a good pro, but he\u2019s certainly different now, and he\u2019s a good character to have around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leicester lost a double World Cup-winning stand-off Handre Pollard<\/a> over the summer, and while they have brought in other options at No 10 in Orlando Bailey<\/a> and Billy Searle<\/a>, O\u2019Connor is their first choice this season.<\/p>\n

If Parling is unsuccessful in his negotiations with Schmidt, Leicester will have to wait until The Rugby Championship concludes on 4 October before his arrival.<\/p>\n

The return to Mattioli Woods Welford Road, where he spent six years as a player, marks the start of a new chapter for Parling after five seasons in the Wallabies\u2019 set-up.<\/p>\n

He finished off with a victory in Sydney against the Lions but a series defeat.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no joy in the coaching box at the end of the Third Test. It was a case of what could have been,\u201d said the former England<\/a> second row.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut a lot of people had written us off early doors, and I think we showed with that bit of consistency and keeping working hard, with some players really stepping up, especially in that third game, that we could produce some good performances.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve close relationships with a lot of people there, so it\u2019s good to see them just sneak that win at the weekend<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m right behind that team. There are some good people there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"James O\u2019Connor is involved in a tug-of-love between Leicester and the Wallabies over when he will arrive in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-125501","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}