James O’Connor.
Photo: Crusaders
Former Wallabies first-five James O’Connor is loving being back in New Zealand and he believes criticism of the country’s depth at first-five is “harsh”.
O’Connor, who spent several years in Te Atatū in Auckland as a kid, will play for the Crusaders in next year’s Super Rugby Pacific competition.
The 34-year-old, who’s played professionally for 16 years, is settling in well to Christchurch and is getting to know his fellow Crusaders playmakers Rivez Reihana and Taha Kamara.
James O’Connor training with the Wallabies.
Photo: Photosport
O’Connor, who played 64 tests for Australia between 2008 and 2022, wants to nail down a starting role for the Canterbury based side, but he knows it won’t be easy.
“The two guys I’m working with, Rivez and Taha, they’ve definitely got it. They’ve got an energy to them. When you speak to them they’re present. There’s a power there and they wanna learn, O’Connor said.
“They’re excited about playing footy and the want to compete.”
Reihana and Kamara are two of several young first-fives hoping to take the next step and fill the hole in the All Blacks left by the departure of Crusaders star Richie Mo’unga to Japan.
That hole has largely been filled by Beauden Barrett and Damian McKenzie thus far under new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson, but both players are getting on in their careers and there are question marks around whether they’re the players to guide the All Blacks backline at the next World Cup in Australia in 2027.
O’Connor though believes New Zealand has plenty of quality No.10s.
“I genuinely feel you guys have a lot of talent here. I don’t know what it is that is different (from Australia and other parts of the world), whether it’s just coming through the ranks or having played touch footy.”
O’Connor has played in Australia, England and France and he reckons All Blacks fans may have been spoilt for choice with the first-fives they’ve had previously.
“You look at your your recent All blacks teams and the talent you’ve had in the past. You’ve got the three best No.10s in the whole world (Barrett, Mo’unga, and McKenzie) running around right now or recently and then before that, you probably have the best as well (Dan Carter and Aaron Cruden).
“You could put any of those guys straight into any other international team and they’d start.”
James O’Connor playing for the Wallabies.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
O’Connor is preaching patience and said it takes time to develop test quality first-fives.
“I think the big issue is just about you’ve got to nurture these guys. You’ve got to put time into them because, you know, they come from schoolboy footy or they’ve come from juniors or NPC where they can stand out physically because they got good foot speed or they’re great ball players and they can put guys through holes.
“The next level of Super Rugby and test rugby, because defences are so organised, everything gets a little bit more tight and first-fives have less time. They need to learn how to become game managers and that’s what you see over in the UK because there’s so much rugby.
“Even in Europe, there’s so much footy being played. These guys are continuously under pressure, building their assets. They’re losing games, but they’re understanding why they’ve lost. They’re learning how to manage it, how to get the best guys the ball in hand, what sort of ball they want, how to put the ball in front of the forwards to keep them fresh,” O’Connor said.
“So that’s a skill that takes time to enhance. I didn’t learn how to do that until I was probably 29, 30. Took me a little bit longer because I played quite a few different positions, but I would say you’ve got the talent here. It’s just about nurturing it and giving them time to understand and grow and putting that energy into them.”
Crusaders players looking dejected after a loss.
Photo: Photosport / Andrew Cornaga
O’Connor said the Crusaders have been looking good in pre-season training and he’s confident they can get back to the top of the Super Rugby pile in 2025, after missing the playoffs this year for the first time since 2015.
“I felt like I think there’s been a lot of honest conversations,” O’Connor said.
“The guys know they didn’t go as well last year. The whole organisation understands that. So there’s been a real shift in terms of how do we change that so it doesn’t happen again? And what is our point of difference? Not even how do we get back to that (reaching the playoffs) but how do we enhance that?.
“We’re in the third week of preseason, but training is fast, it’s hard and there’s a purpose to it. There’s a lot of different one percenters we’re touching on. Even for me, the speed of the ball here at training is quick. I’m having to adapt my game and it’s putting my skills under pressure that haven’t been put under pressure like that in a long time.”
The Crusaders won seven titles in seven years under Scott Robertson before Rob Penney took over as coach last season.
O’Connor said the team’s history was important and another reason why everyone was determined to win.
“There’s so much support here even from the old players. The organisation and all the guys want to see the Crusaders succeed. They want to see us succeed. So there’s a care element and a connection element there that’s deep, that runs through the whole city (Christchurch), the whole region and even the South Island.
“So I think it’s not almost a matter of time, but if you put in the work, you usually get the outcome. That’s not saying it will get you to being a final winning team or whatever, but it gets you to the place where you can start asking those questions.”
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