Wasps star O’Connor buzzing for Ireland recall
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.
Sunday may mark his return to action, with O’Connor available for selection in Wasps’ opening pool game against Castres, although he will have to dislodge former England U-21 captain Tom Rees to win back his number seven shirt.
Despite the setbacks, O’Connor is philosophical about his career lows and insists his west of Ireland background has stood in him good stead.
He said: “I come from a family of grinders, my old man is a grinder and I think like that. These things happen, you get up and you keep on going — that is the way I am.
“I think you just learn from it. At the moment, I think this injury especially has changed my mind on a lot of things.
“A lot of people say that an injury is a life-changing thing and I think that this injury has definitely changed a lot of things in my life. It has changed in a positive way and I’ve got an appreciation for my career.
“Sometimes you get ground down by the amount of games you have to play over here. I just feel that I want to enjoy myself more and enjoy playing rugby and not let it become too stressful. Nobody gets more disappointed than me when I have a bad game.
“I want to start enjoying my rugby again. I’ve just got a good state of mind about my rugby and my ability at the moment and I just want to play.”
O’Connor’s ultimate objective is to return to Ireland’s line-up and he acknowledges David Wallace’s performances during Munster’s victorious Heineken Cup campaign was instrumental in him falling out of favour in the first place.
He said: “Maybe I had a dip in form and he came in and did very well. That is the way it goes. But I wouldn’t say he just got into the Ireland side because Munster were playing well. He got into the team on his own merits.
“The most important thing is for me to get back playing. I can’t expect to be picked if I’m not playing. Hopefully the coaches are viewing that.”
O’Connor maintains he is happy at Wasps though he expects to move back to Ireland before the end of his career.
He added: “I signed a two-year deal last year. I’ll always be heading home at some stage because Ireland is where I’m going to base myself when I’m older.
“Over in Ireland the clubs look after the players and they don’t play as many games. At Wasps they look after their players, but at other clubs there isn’t enough protection for the players and they end up playing too many games.”
In the Wasps pack, Ireland can also call upon possibly the strongest player in the Guinness Premiership — Offaly-born prop Peter Bracken.
But the 29-year-old, who can dead-lift an almighty 245kg, has to win his place at tight-head back from World Cup winner, England international Phil Vickery.
Bracken said: “I want to build-up my form towards the European Cup because as a team we need to be peaking at that time.
“First of all, I’ve got to keep my place on the Wasps team, which is going to get even more difficult now with Phil Vickery back from injury. My main priority is to keep my place and perform when I get on. If I do get to play and put in good performances in the Heineken Cup, especially against the French teams home and away, it will put me in good stead.”
The 18-stone forward believes that Europe’s premier club competition is the closest a non-international can get to experience the speed of Test rugby.
He said: “I think the Heineken Cup is the next step and is not far off international standard rugby. If I can prove that I can do a job there, things might happen for me on the Irish set-up.
“But I’m just happy to be involved in the Ireland squad. I was training with them two weeks ago and that went quite well. So I’ll just try and play my best rugby for Wasps, so that it if I do get an opportunity with Ireland I’ll be able to perform.”
Wasps’ half-back combination has a strong Irish flavour with scrum-half Eoin Reddan working in tandem with Jeremy Staunton. The latter has two main goals this season: to win the Heineken Cup and add to his one Ireland cap.
Limerick-born outside-half Staunton has flourished during his 14-month stay at Wasps and played in Ireland’s final summer game, albeit for half a minute. But the former Munster stand-off cum full-back relished every part of his return with the Ireland set-up and is targeting a more substantial taste of Test action in the future.
Staunton said: “I think I only came on for 20 seconds, but to get a cap on the Tour was great because it capped off a great season for me. To have got back onto the international scene again was really good.”
For Staunton, the Heineken Cup is a special competition and, in his opinion, winning the trophy will be the highlight of his club career should he achieve it with Wasps.
He said: “I played in the European Cup before, I’ve even played in the final, and to win it would be the pinnacle of my club career. In terms of a club competition, they don’t get any bigger, so, first things first, we need to make sure we win against Castres.”
The final and newest member of Wasps’ self-styled Irish Mafia is Hammersmith-born centre Rob Hoadley, who has nailed his colours to the Ireland mast. A former London Irish youth player, Hoadley qualifies for Ireland via his Waterford-born mother and is eager to grab O’Sullivan’s attention with some competent displays in the Heineken Cup.
Hoadley said: “I love the big occasion because the biggest challenge is playing against the best players and I find that brings out the best in me.
“I was at London Irish from the age of five and all the young players dreamt of growing up to play for Ireland. With regards to a call-up, it really is all about first nailing down a Wasps first-team place.”
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