Joe Schmidt’s ‘never say never’ verdict on Wallabies star’s future
Wallabies James O'Connor and Fraser McReight with an inset of head coach Joe Schmidt
Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt hasn’t written off the prospect of James O’Connor playing at the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
The playmaker marked his return to international rugby against the Springboks at Ellis Park in round one of the Rugby Championship, his first appearance in the gold jersey in three years.
The 35-year-old played the entire 80 minutes for the Wallabies and produced a marvellous performance, marshalling the side to a historic first victory in Johannesburg in the professional era.
James O’Connor’s future
Schmidt steps down as the Wallabies head coach ahead of the July internationals next year, with Les Kiss taking over, but the current boss hasn’t written off O’Connor’s chances of featuring at the World Cup on home soil.
“It’s not my decision,” Schmidt replied when asked the question after naming his team to face the Boks in Cape Town.
“We’ve got some young guys who are coming through at 10, and part of our plan with James was for him to kind of guide those younger players and help them through their development until they both disappeared and he decided that he needed to develop himself into our current number 10.”
The 59-year-old pointed to Johnny Sexton as an example that a player cannot be written off, as Schmidt didn’t believe that the Irish great would make the 2023 World Cup.
“I would never say never. I had Johnny Sexton with Ireland for a long time, and in 2019, I felt like that was his last World Cup, but he was a hell of a player in 2023,” he added.
“There is no definitive stopping point. Nic White retired in the third Test against the Lions and played pretty well in his comeback game – albeit only two weeks later.”
For now, the Wallabies boss is pleased to have experienced operators as his starting halfbacks.
“The accumulated experience of those two players does help [with on-field decision-making],” he explained.
“James was just trying to find his feet, particularly in that first 20 minutes; he got caught drifting across the field and got turned over. He was a little bit hesitant, but as the game went on, I felt like he got a bit of rhythm.
“Nic’s kicking game was really important for us. His organisational game was good for us, so those two together – thankfully, we’re a good pivot for us.”
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Chasing historical results
While the Wallabies ended a long, long wait for victory in Johannesburg, Schmidt isn’t looking at historical results for inspiration.
The last time Australia claimed back-to-back victories in South Africa was back in 2011 after beating the Boks in Bloemfontein in 2010 and in Durban the following year.
In fact, the only time the Wallabies have beaten the Boks in South Africa twice in the same year was in 1963.
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Asked if he would be using that as a motivating tool, Schmidt replied: “No, not really, because if we glance back, it’s nice to know what has happened, but that doesn’t influence what can happen, and we’ve got to make what can happen, happen.
“We can’t wait around, we can’t wait for the Springboks to bring their game; we’ve got to kick off with our game a lot better than we did last week.
“We’ve talked more about that and tried to do more about that than look that far back because it’s nice to know it and the players are aware of it, but they know it’s not going to significantly shift the end result.
“What most influences that result is what we can control and what we can do to perform as well as we can.
“What we expect from the Springboks, and try to make sure that we are capable of closing as much as we can of that down.”
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