With All Blacks in crisis mode, Schmidt recalls O’Connor from England

The opportunity to take advantage of a wounded All Blacks and make history at Eden Park next week appears to have swayed Joe Schmidt into making a late U-turn and selecting veteran playmaker James O’Connor for the Bledisloe Cup series.

The decision not only gives O’Connor the chance to play in his first Bledisloe Cup fixture in five years, but it will boost his frequent flyers’ points balance, given the 35-year-old learned of the news in England, having flown to London on Monday to join his new club, Leicester.

Keen to continue his late-career Wallabies revival, O’Connor said he was willing to fly back if selected, and after less than 72 hours in the UK, he will travel from Heathrow to Sydney, and then onto Auckland with the Wallabies squad on Sunday.

As forecast, Will Skelton will not feature in the opening trans-Tasman clash at Eden Park next week, and the big second-rower also remains doubtful to play in the second clash in Perth after not being named in the squad at all.

O’Connor’s inclusion in the 34-man squad was one of only a few talking points in an otherwise settled group, with the returns of Tom Lynagh and Jake Gordon from injury the major inclusions.

Having returned from injury to train with the Wallabies in Sydney last week, there was no room for Ben Donaldson after Schmidt made a late decision to include O’Connor in his plans.

In a bizarre sequence of events, O’Connor will grind through 34,000km and 51 hours of air travel this week after initially being told by Schmidt he was not likely to be needed for the Eden Park clash and was free to join Leicester.

The veteran had been due to arrive in the English midlands in August but put off those plans after being selected in the Wallabies squad for the Lions series, and then staying for the Rugby Championship, where he played in four Tests against South Africa and Argentina.

O’Connor had flights booked this week but said publicly he was keen to stay on for the Bledisloe Cup and would delay his travel, and Leicester coach Geoff Parling (who was Schmidt’s assistant with the Wallabies as recently as last month) was okay with it too, according to informed sources.

But after Schmidt indicated as late as Sunday he was going to throw his faith in a trio of young Wallabies 10s - Lynagh, Tane Edmed and Donaldson - instead, O’Connor, his wife Bridget and their dog flew out on Monday.

Before departure, O’Connor told The Good, the Bad and the Rugby podcast he would be happy to fly straight back.

“Joe is still talking with Leicester at the moment. I am happy to do what my dog is doing and fly under the plane to get back. I land Tuesday, England time ... we will head up to the new house and get settled in and, man, I am more than happy to fly straight back,” he said.

This week saw Schmidt’s thinking shift. After admitting at the weekend he was balancing short-term and long-term planning, and would potentially look to plug more experience into his young stable of No.10s, Schmidt’s call-up for O’Connor over Donaldson indicates he is looking to keep pushing for wins with an experienced closer from the bench.

The All Blacks fell to their biggest ever defeat in Wellington last week at the hands of the Springboks, which has plunged New Zealand into a state of crisis.

Amid mountains of mournful commentary, former All Blacks fullback Mils Muliania said the current side “gave up” in the late stages of their loss to the Boks, Sir John Kirwan said he wanted to vomit and Jeff Wilson said the All Blacks’ aura had been tarnished to the point that “teams clearly believe more and more they can beat the All Blacks”.

Combined with Australia’s resurgent form under Schmidt, it has many in New Zealand wary thathe Wallabies have a genuine chance to end a Bledisloe Cup drought that dates back to 2002.

The problem is the Wallabies have to win both games of the two-Test series to win the prized silverware, and the first fixture on September 27 is at Eden Park - where the All Blacks haven’t lost in 51 Tests, and Australia haven’t won since 1986.

The other obstacle is that the Kiwis have a habit of bouncing back strongly after being beaten or playing poorly, particularly against Australia. And particularly at Eden Park.

O’Connor last played in the Bledisloe Cup in 2020, when the two sides drew 16-16 in Wellington before New Zealand prevailed 27-7 at Eden Park in the next Test. In 2019, O’Connor played centre in the Wallabies’ equal record 47-26 win over New Zealand, but that was also followed by a 36-0 drubbing at Eden Park the next week.

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