“Me and the wife went in [to Brisbane], got my visa and then I just saw a couple of the boys on the corner, literally about 100 metres up the road.
“I drove the car up there and pulled it around just to say good luck for the tour.”
After opting to select O’Connor over Tane Edmed and Bernard Foley, Schmidt had been unsuccessfully trying to ring him all morning. As the coach stood in the hotel foyer trying to reach O’Connor one more time, someone pointed out he was standing outside.
James O’Connor has returned to the Wallabies for the first time since 2022.Credit: Getty Images
“Two minutes later, Joe comes walking out, and he’s like, ‘man, I tried to call you!’,” O’Connor said.
“I was like, ‘oh, you can give me the bad news now then’… and he’s like, ‘no, you’re in. You better get home and pack your bags.’ We’ve got an hour until the release.
“I thought he [Joe] was joking … because everyone was already at the hotel and everyone knew. The boys always say, if you get a call … no news is good news, apparently. He’d given me a call.
“He shook my hand and told me – and I was double-checking. I was like, ‘Are you serious?’ Honestly, it hasn’t sunk in yet. Genuinely, it’s very surreal.
A smiling Schmidt said he was affronted when the two Wallabies players on the scene told O’Connor “he doesn’t joke”.
“Which I took to heart, really. I wouldn’t say I’m completely humourless, but maybe that self-awareness needs to be a little bit deeper,” Schmidt said.
“I’ve been talking to James for a long time, right through the Super Rugby season.
“Obviously, we started with Noah and with his injury, we needed to replace him. Our tens are young in experience anyway, so to get James to come in, [I] talked to Tom Lynagh a little bit around the influence he had on him and his development – and that was really positive.
“I’ve talked to David Havili, who’s obviously in with the AUNZ team at the moment; I’ve coached Davey and have a lot of time for Davey’s opinion. He said that James was a real help with the two young tens at the Crusaders, so from that perspective, they were positives.”
The recall of O’Connor was the major news in a largely unchanged squad.
Notable omissions included Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and Darcy Swain, who missed out on a lock spot to Reds teammate Josh Canham. No players from the AUNZ XV were called into the Wallabies squad.
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Tom Lynagh was named and, after father Michael played in the 1989 series, will have the chance to become part of the first father-son duo to play Tests against the Lions.
O’Connor will get the chance to emulate George Smith, who remains the only player to have played two Lions series with a 12-year break in between. James Slipper also has the opportunity to join Smith in the ultra-exclusive club.
O’Connor’s shock return to the Wallabies carries some of the same flavour as Smith’s left-field selection for the third Test in 2013.
The 64-Test utility, who debuted as an 18-year-old in 2008, was the starting No.10 for the Wallabies in their 2-1 series defeat to the Lions in 2013. But just a few months later, O’Connor had his Rugby Australia contract torn up for a series of off-field problems.
He went overseas, matured, and made a memorable return to Australia and the Wallabies for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. O’Connor last played a Test in 2022, under Dave Rennie, and last year left the Queensland Reds to join the Crusaders in New Zealand.
James O’Connor slipping past Jonny Sexton during the 2013 Lions tour of Australia.Credit: Getty Images
O’Connor was a revelation for the powerhouse Kiwi side, coming off the bench in the role of experienced playmaker, and the Crusaders won the title last month.
In an interview with this masthead in May, O’Connor said he was a far better player now than the youngster thrown in at the deep end and given the No.10 role in 2013.
