Aussie star eyes rugby move
SYDNEY - Wallabies playmaker James O’Connor is reportedly eyeing a move across the trans-Tasman next year after he approached a Super Rugby Aotearoa franchise.
According to the NZ Herald’s Liam Napier, O’Connor has been in touch with the Chiefs about a potential move to New Zealand in 2021.
The 30-year-old reportedly met with Wallabies coach Dave Rennie on Friday to convey his desire to join the Chiefs next year.
According to the report, O’Connor is eager to test his capabilities in a more challenging domestic tournament.
O’Connor signed a twoand-a-half-year deal with Rugby Australia and the Queensland Reds in 2019, and would need to negotiate an exit from his contract if he moved across the Tasman.
Both of his parents are from New Zealand, and he also holds a New Zealand passport.
O’Connor made his Test debut in 2008, and has since represented the Wallabies on 62 occasions.
After leaving the Super Rugby competition in 2013, O’Connor played professional rugby in England and France before returning to join the Queensland Reds.
A foot injury and an MCL complaint kept him sidelined for a portion of the recent Tri-Nations tournament, where Wallabies were awarded the wooden spoon following consecutive draws against Argentina.
Although he has traditionally played as a centre, O’Connor has reinvented himself as a fly-half since last year’s Rugby World Cup in Japan.
“I’m not going to lie, I came back as a centre and I played in the World Cup and it did frustrate me because I couldn’t get my awe,” O’Connor said in October.
“I felt like I wasn’t involved as much as I would have liked because you want to go out there knowing that you’ve done the job. So I went back to the drawing board with one of my coaches and we sat down and chatted, ‘How can I take my game forward?’
“Funnily enough after round one in Super Rugby that opportunity came, and it was still a big learning curve because I hadn’t played 10 in six years and I was learning on the run.”