O'Connor starts battle to regain Wallabies respect
Australia back James O'Connor has pledged to adhere to new coach Ewen McKenzie's "team-first" ethos as he battles to retain his place in the Wallabies after a series of off-field indiscretions during the British & Irish Lions tour.
Australia back James O'Connor has pledged to adhere to new coach Ewen McKenzie's "team-first" ethos as he battles to retain his place in the Wallabies after a series of off-field indiscretions during the British & Irish Lions tour.
McKenzie's predecessor Robbie Deans showed huge faith in O'Connor, 23, naming him flyhalf for the Lions series, but the versatile utility struggled in the playmaking position as the Wallabies lost the series 2-1.
I don't play rugby to be talked about off the field,. I'm playing rugby because I love it and that's what I want to be doing, playing for my country
O'Connor further blotted his copybook by missing a bus for training and being photographed at a fast-food restaurant with fellow Wallabies back Kurtley Beale in the lead-up to the second Lions test in Melbourne.
Despite finishing the tour in a storm of criticism and being dumped by Super Rugby club Melbourne Rebels, O'Connor was named in McKenzie's 30-man squad for the southern hemisphere Rugby Championship, which kicks off with a match against the New Zealand All Blacks in Sydney on Saturday.
O'Connor is not among McKenzie's preferred flyhalf candidates, however, and the talented back said that "wasn't too big a shock" after losing the series to the Lions.
"I don't play rugby to be talked about off the field," O'Connor said in Sydney yesterday. "I'm playing rugby because I love it and that's what I want to be doing, playing for my country.