O’Connor looks for a gap against the British & Irish Lions in the series decider
Photo: seiserphotography.com

by Paul Cook –

Four weeks ago, James O’Connor stood on the threshold of orchestrating a piece of history for both himself and for the Wallaby side he had been entrusted to guide around the paddock. Victory over the British & Irish Lions at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium would have sealed a memorable series win over the tourists and gone some way towards validating coach Robbie Deans’ faith in O’Connor in the pivotal flyhalf role. We all know what happened next.

Today, he starts his first game since that 41-16 mauling by the Lions (he came off the bench for the Melbourne Rebels a week later) as he makes his debut for West Harbour in Sydney’s Shute Shield club rugby competition. Geographically speaking, he will be less than 6 kilometres up the Parramatta Road from the location of that fateful night but the ramifications of the devastating loss have seen a seismic shift in Australia’s rugby landscape.

Robbie Deans has departed to be replaced by the people’s favourite, Ewen McKenzie, and it is now his job to get the best out of the mercurial talent that is James O’Connor – should he stay in Australian rugby – over the next five to ten years. One of the brightest and best young talents in the country is currently without a contract amid rumours of a return to the Western Force, a stint overseas in Japan or Europe or even a switch to rugby league.

While he attempts to sort out his future, a bit of running rugby on a Saturday afternoon in front of an appreciative club crowd and with the smell of sausages sizzling on the barbie, seems like a pretty good idea.

Running the water at Concord Oval two weeks ago as the Pirates played Eastwood – Photo: seiserphotography.com

West Harbour coach Matt Briggs is convinced it’s a positive for both the club and the player. “He’s done some work with the juniors, he ran the water for us two weeks ago, the clubs engaged him, the juniors love him, he’s in a great head space and he’s very keen to support the boys. He seems to really be enjoying the idea of playing club rugby in Sydney.”

With the Rugby Championship in the offing, Briggs admits that this may well be O’Connor’s only club appearance for the year and hopes that rugby fans of any persuasion may be tempted to pay a visit to the iconic Concord Oval to watch him go around as a result, but he remains hopeful that the Pirates’ faithful will get a glimpse of the 40 test capped Wallaby again sometime soon.

“He’s got a little window of opportunity and it’s very dependent on his Wallaby commitments but it could be his only game for us,” he said. “I’d like to grab him for back-to-back matches if I can before his international duties but it’s a great chance to come down to Concord and see a Wallaby on show – not something we get to say very often.”

Given his recent – and some would say unconvincing – excursions at flyhalf and his listing in Ewen McKenzie’s first Wallaby training squad as a wing/fullback, it is interesting to note that O’Connor will line up in the no.12 shirt against Warringah this afternoon. For coach Briggs, it’s a no-brainer.

“It’s purely my call,” he confirms. “I’ve said before that he’s the closest thing I’ve seen to Tim Horan and I stand by that. We play it fairly wide and with a little bit of depth and just having that bit of extra space at 12 I think will suit him to a tee. His job is not to make all the breaks, it’s to fit into the combinations and trail in support and then occasionally have a crack himself.

“Just giving him that extra space and taking a few decisions off his plate will free him up to concentrate on what he needs to be doing. He’s very happy to play there and I think when we see him play there on the day, people may realise that’s where he’s best suited.”

With the Pirates enjoying their best season in recent history – they currently lie 5th and are already guaranteed of a place in the finals – their form and performances have been rewarded with the call-up of three players to the NSW Barbarians squad which is touring Argentina for the next ten days. Briggs believes there are others in this weekend’s side with the same potential and that the presence of O’Connor will be a boon for their learning curves as well.

“The boys are very excited,” he says. “We’re trying to do the right thing by them, we’ve got three of our players over in Argentina as we speak, we’ve got a few injuries and a couple of guys suspended so we’re a bit skinny and to have James come and play will be a real shot in the arm. We think we’ve got guys that can go to the next level in this side and it’ll be good to have somebody as professional as James to raise the standard of expectation and performance.”

Wests are looking to return to winning ways after stumbling in recent weeks and with finals footy only three weeks away, Briggs has laid down the gauntlet. “It’s about building momentum now and I told the guys this week that it’s about fighting for a jersey for that semi-finals spot. I don’t have a locked-in starting fifteen, everyone’s got an opportunity and it’s whether you grab it with both hands or you don’t and I will pick the guys that are training the hardest and performing the best on Saturdays, it’s as simple as that. It’s up to them.” 

West Harbour v Warringah @ Concord Oval 3pm

West Harbour: 1 Leon Latu, 2 Reg De Jager (C), 3 James Horrocks, 4 Alfred Pinomi, 5 Chris Simons, 6 Aisea Namoa, 7 Cohen Masson, 8 Vaka Manu 9 David Osofua, 10 Jack Debreczeni, 11 Tito Mua, 12 James O’Connor, 13 Winston Wilson, 14 Macquire Tatola, 15 Shaun Treweek.

Warringah: 1 Richard Southan, 2 Rob Kelly, 3 Wayne Borsak, 4 Vincent Wright, 5 Ben Adams, 6 Mark Porpiglia, 7 Boyd Killingworth, 8 Sam Ward, 9 Joshua Holmes, 10 David Harvey, 11 Brad Dixon, 12 Hamish Angus, 13 Michael Adams, 14 Edward Doyle, 15 David Feltscheer.

Referee: James Leckie