James O’Connor’s honest admission over THAT controversial pass but insists another officiating error ‘evened it up’
Filipo Daugunu going over for a controversial try and Wallabies star James O'Connor.
Wallabies star James O’Connor has admitted that they were fortunate to be awarded the try which took them to the top of the Rugby Championship.
Australia succumbed to Argentina at the weekend as they lost their second game of this year’s competition, but they still find themselves in a good position heading into the Bledisloe Cup.
That is because of two log points they earned thanks to Filipo Daugunu’s late score from what appeared to be a clear Andrew Kellaway forward pass.
As a result of that try, which reduced the arrears to 28-26, it handed the Wallabies a try bonus-point as well as a losing bonus-point.
JOC’s admission
Even O’Connor wryly conceded that the officials got it wrong, although the playmaker believed that it made up for a previous error.
“Yeah, it was forward,” he told the GBRAUNZ podcast with a big grin on his face, before adding: “But the other one from Fraser wasn’t, so it evened it back up!”
The fly-half was referring to a pass by Fraser McReight in the second period which saw the flanker quickly tap the ball on over the top of his head.
It sent Max Jorgensen free and would have potentially set up a try-scoring opportunity for the Wallabies, but play was called back after the assistant referee deemed that it was forward.
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Those moments summed up the almost chaotic nature of the second half during that Rugby Championship encounter as the hosts went into all-out attack mode.
O’Connor came on for inexperienced pivot Tane Edmed in the second period with Australia 25-7 in arrears, but they almost pulled off another remarkable comeback.
The 35-year-old has been in excellent form since returning to the side, but the playmaker explained why the game situation made it “easy” for him when he got onto the field in Sydney.
Inspiring the Wallabies’ response
“In terms of my decision-making, you could see Argentina defend very differently to the Springboks and the All Blacks, they’re very good at reading blocker plays, pushing off and holding short and then getting to the next defender,” he said.
“For me, I have to make sure I’m holding them up, so that’s why I’m playing flat to the line and sometimes getting my ribs tickled, but you’re taking one for the team there.
“When you’re behind by three tries, I know we’ve got to move the ball, so quick taps, speeding it up. It sounds funny but it makes my job easy because all I have to do is attack, I’m not even thinking of anything else but moving that ball.
“I’m not playing very balanced so I’m going to make errors and some of the other guys are too because we’re playing fast, we’re playing on top of them.”
O’Connor added: “I feel like I’m getting a good understanding of the guys around me and how they like the ball – how Jorgo (Jorgensen) likes the ball, how Su (Joseph Suaalii) likes the ball, how our back-rowers can get a second touch and the ball away for me.
“I feel like I’m building a good combination with these guys but already within them they have some good combinations.”
