Wasps star O’Connor buzzing for Ireland recall

JOHNNY O’CONNOR hopes London Wasps’ Heineken Cup campaign can help him reclaim his Test place in Ireland’s back row and bring his cursed run of bad luck to an end.

The 26-year-old Galway man thought he had beaten the ill-fated omens that had robbed him of appearing in three major finals when he lined up for last April’s Powergen Cup Final, at Twickenham, against the Scarlets.

But disaster struck within minutes of kick off when he was slammed to the turf and was carried off on a stretcher, suffering from a swollen spinal cord.