Western Force open to bringing back James O'Connor
Days after former Wallaby James O’Connor revealed he wanted to represent Australia again, one of his former clubs have expressed interest in his signature.
Eleven years after O'Connor made his Super Rugby debut as a 17-year-old with the Western Force, the club have come calling once more.
Former teammate and Western Force Head of Elite Performance Matt Hodgson said O’Connor was being looked at as the side gear up for another run in their World Series Rugby competition.
“That’s the type of player we’re looking for,” Hodgson said in an interview with ESPN.
“Obviously knowing James quite well, he’d potentially be one we’re looking at. I think he fits the criteria we’re looking at, especially leading into a World Cup year.
“Like James mentioned, [if] he is interested in coming back for the World Cup, then this is a good avenue and something we would potentially look at.”
The 28-year-old, who hasn’t played for the Wallabies since 2013, currently plays for Gallagher Premiership club Sale Sharks but revealed earlier in the week that he had “a deep desire to play for the Wallabies again.”
“I have learnt from my mistakes and I am now ready,” O’Connor posted on Instagram.
“Ready to bleed green and gold. Ready to bleed for my brothers. Ready to bleed for the people.
“I will be back playing in October and I will have my eye firmly on the World Cup. I will not let myself or anyone down again.”
The Wallabies are currently approaching the tail end of their Rugby Championship campaign and will play against South Africa next weekend.
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Skelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
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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