'It was always about chasing pleasure': An older and wiser James O'Connor ahead of his 100th Super Rugby appearance
James O'Connor is looking to celebrate a milestone he thought may never come when he leads Queensland against the Blues in their Super Rugby Trans-Tasman clash on Friday night.
The Reds will be out to back up their hard-fought victory over the Chiefs, which stands as the only win by an Australian team over a Kiwi opponent after three rounds.
The Suncorp Stadium match will be the 30-year-old's 100th Super Rugby appearance, coming 13 years after he made his debut as 17-year-old playing for Western Force.
"I was with the Force playing against the Reds and I came on with about 20 minutes to go and made about four errors in that time so I tried to forget that pretty quickly," O'Connor said on Tuesday.
The Wallabies five-eighth said he, like many, didn't think he would make it to 100 Super Rugby games with his career forced to take a detour overseas.
"For a big part of my career I didn't think I'd get back home to Australia," he said.
"I've been open that I was going to give it one last shot but the thought of retirement definitely played on my mind.
"I put my head down and got to work and I'm enjoying the fruits of my labour and being a part of this group."
The Reds veteran, who recently re-signed until after the 2023 Rugby World Cup, had some wise words for that fresh-faced teenager making his debut.
"Probably just to enjoy the process. It's not always about the outcome," O'Connor said.
"When I was younger I was always chasing the next thing, the next milestone, it was always about chasing pleasure so my advice is about enjoying the smaller moments in life."
The Blues are unbeaten, having thumped the Waratahs, Rebels and Brumbies and O'Connor knows they will be a step up on the Chiefs.
"The Blues are on top of the table. They've played really well in both Super Rugby Aerotoa and this Trans-Tasman comp," he said.
"They're a very physical team and they play exciting footy so for us it's another great challenge but I know the guys are up for the job.
"We're starting to feel that flow. It's a very different dynamic the way Kiwis play and it took us a bit longer for us to adapt."
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Spot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in timeā¦ he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
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