Australia veteran James O'Connor opens up on surprise Wallabies recall at 35 ahead of Lions showdown

James O'Connor last played for Australia in 2022 and celebrated his 35th birthday last weekend, so when he was told that he had been recalled to take on the Lions again, he didn’t initially believe it.

The veteran utility back is on his way to Leicester this summer, to try to fill the void left by World Cup-winning Springbok fly-half Handre Pollard’s return to South Africa. 

But before O’Connor becomes a Tiger, he has a chance to be a Wallaby again – a chance that he felt had passed him by.

A trans-Tasman relocation to join the Crusaders in Christchurch had reignited his form, leading to speculation that O’Connor would earn another shot with his country, but he omitted from a squad named by head coach Joe Schmidt to face Fiji in Newcastle. 

However, an injury to first-choice No 10 Noah Lolesio created a vacancy and Schmidt turned to the former golden boy of Australian rugby, who had playing stints with London Irish and Sale in the Premiership.

At first, when informed at the Wallabies base in Brisbane, O’Connor assumed he was being pranked. He said: ‘I thought he was taking the p**s! Everyone was already at the hotel and everyone knew. 

'He (Schmidt) said he’d given me a call, but I literally hadn’t seen it because I’d been in the visa office. He shook my hand and told me, so I double-checked and he was serious, so there we are.’

Asked about the amusing misunderstanding, Schmidt added: ‘James just said, “You’re kidding” – that was his reaction. But the two boys who were with me said, “No, he doesn’t joke”, which I took to heart really – it made me sound completely humourless!

‘We needed to replace Noah and our team is young and inexperienced, so it’s good to bring James in. He will be playing catch-up, but he’s experienced enough to play catch-up pretty quickly. 

'He can be a calm voice and a voice of experience for us. There is a lot of player-to-player coaching and he can help our young 10s a lot because he sees the game so well.’

O’Connor has an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of back-row icon George Smith, by playing for the Wallabies against the Lions twice – having been the starting fly-half throughout the last series here in 2013, which the tourists won 2-1. Speaking after being summoned, he was visibly moved by the turn of events.

‘I’m ecstatic,’ he said. ‘I’ve been on this journey a long time, to get to this place. To be part of it in any shape or form is incredible. Of course I want the (starting) spot. There are other guys who have been in already who have a head-start, but we’ll see what happens. I’ll do anything I can to help, with any little bits of knowledge I can share.

‘This is bigger than a World Cup. It’s every 12 years and most players only get one shot at it, so your aim has to be true.’

Meanwhile, Schmidt claimed that the 2025 Lions are destined to peak for the first Test against his side in Brisbane next Saturday – and suggested that they are not at full throttle yet. 

‘I’ve coached against them with a provincial side – Bay of Plenty – and it was 17-all at half-time then they got away to win by 12 points I think,’ he said. ‘But when it came to the Tests, they were a different beast. I do think that’s when they really ramp it up.

‘During a tour, if you go to the emotional well and the physical well every four or five days, I do think you probably start to dilute your ability to really hit the top level. I’ve coached with Andy (Farrell) for enough years and he’ll have them simmering at the moment. I have no doubt that, come Saturday week, they will be at the boil.’

The Lions are gearing up for a potentially dangerous final pre-series fixture against a high-class Australia-New Zealand Invitational XV at the Adelaide Oval. 

Several leading Kiwi players including Crusaders captain David Havili and midfield partner Ngani Laumape, plus back-rowers Shannon Frizzell and Hoskins Sotutu have the pedigree to threaten an upset.

Farrell is on a state of alert, saying: ‘We know their coaches and players individually from the Reds, Waratahs, or New Zealand. A lot of the lads have played against them before but, as a unit, there’s obviously a little bit of unknown there. But it looks like a formidable side that’s going to be hard to stop. The side they’ve picked is very strong.’

When asked about the opposition here, Simon Easterby, the Lions’ defence coach, added: ‘It’s a tasty team, isn’t it? It’s exciting. They won’t have played or trained too much together, so that gives us a great opportunity to put a lot of our stuff into practice. It'll be a great challenge against what looks like a really strong squad.’