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James O'Connor earns No.10 recall for Reds' crucial Fiji trip

(Photo by Andy Jackson/Getty Images)

Brad Thorn has turned to James O’Connor with the Queensland Reds’ Super Rugby Pacific season – and his time as coach – on the line in Fiji.

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O’Connor will return to the No.10 to play the Drua on Saturday, pairing with inside centre Hunter Paisami in a new but familiar combination for the high-stakes clash.

Win, and the Reds are assured a finals berth. Lose, and they could slip to as low as 11th in what would be a sorry closure to Thorn’s six seasons in charge.

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And the coach has reverted to a pair of old heads, moving O’Connor from No.12 back to five-eighth and starting fit-again Test centre Paisami in the No.12.

That leaves Tom Lynagh on the bench with fellow half Lawson Creighton, Thorn having sung Lynagh’s praises after a rock solid outing in their gutting 35-30 loss to the Highlanders last week.

Long the Reds’ obvious first-choice five-eighth, O’Connor hasn’t worn the No.10 since a poor outing in a loss to the Crusaders in March.

But injury opened the door for a return in the centres, allowing the out-of-favour, off-contract Wallabies veteran to rediscover his spark.

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“Just a little bit, for this game, experience,” Thorn justified of the selection.

“His combination with Hunter, they’ve played a bit of footy together.

“He gets his opportunity there to play with that combination.

“Tom … he’s been coming along nicely. Those pressure moments, such a calm guy, such a big future in front of him.”

Tate McDermott (concussion) has ticked the boxes required to play but Liam Wright (shoulder) and Connor Vest (neck) remain casualties of the brutal Dunedin fixture.

QUEENSLAND REDS: Peni Ravai, Matt Faessler, Zane Nonggorr, Angus Blyth, Ryan Smith, Seru Uru, Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson, Tate McDermott, James O’Connor, Filipo Daugunu, Hunter Paisami, Josh Flook, Suliasi Vunivalu, Jock Campbell. Bench: Richie Asiata, Dane Zander, Sef Fa’agase, Lopeti Faifua, Jake Upfield, Kalani Thomas, Tom Lynagh, Lawson Creighton.

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EllenMoody 3 hours ago
Great moments in Lions tour history – JPR’s drop goal and the All Blacks' brutal revenge

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JWH 4 hours ago
'Matches between Les Bleus and the All Blacks are rarely for the faint-hearted.'

Do you hear yourself? Do you have any concept of world view? Have you tried looking into why people call Ireland ‘arrogant’? Obviously not.


We started calling you arrogant when you called our captain a ‘shit Richie McCaw’. In New Zealand. On our turf. Don’t think that kind of behaviour really calls for respect, does it.


NZ don’t really talk ourselves up, if anything the rugby does it for us. No kiwi goes in the media and says: ‘We are gonna win the RWC’. However, I have found many instance of IRISH media saying that the Irish should win, without a doubt. THAT is disrespectful.


The All Blacks have played good rugby, even some of the best rugby ever, at many points in history, but I don’t think you could find a single instance of one of those players, or the NZ media, saying that they should whitewash their opponents. Ever.


Now, onto your analysis. Ireland DID choke the QF. They beat the champions, they were ranked first coming into it, a lot of players at the peaks of their powers. Its hard to say that they didn’t choke. Obviously, their preparation was just not as good as NZ, and thats all there really is to it.


If Ireland had repsected that ABs team and that QF more, maybe they would’ve prepared properly for it and won. But they didn’t.


Maybe if Ireland had won their QF last RWC, they wouldn’t have to be in the same pool as SA and Scotland. I mean, its called a draw for a reason. NZ got third last RWC, so of course they should get a reasonable pool, and they were ranked pretty highly too. If you want to talk about easy pools, look no further than Pool 3 with England, Australia, Fiji, and Georgia I think?


Now, obviously you don’t remember how that QF ended, so I’ll go ahead and rectify that. Ireland reclaimed the ball off kickoff and marched for 20ish phases into the opposition half. Savea then won a turnover, but the referee refused to give it, so play went on. Finally, at the NZ 22, after not giving up a single penatly in 25 phases of hard defense, Sam Whitelock, the most capped All Black of all time, wins the game with an incredible steal.


Now, NZ players having a go at Ireland. Do you cry when you get hit after making the first swing? We all know Sexton is a prick on the field, its just the truth. And Ioane never backs down from a clash, so he thought he should humble a player who has never won an international knockout game who thought he was all that. Don’t really see the issue, its poetic justice really.

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