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Reds dealt major injury blow as James O'Connor set for lengthy sideline spell

(Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Injury to James O’Connor has put a spanner in the Queensland Reds’ plans to take down their New Zealand rivals and threatens to derail the playmaker’s home test campaign for a second-straight year.

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Last season’s domestic champions will begin the trans-Tasman component of Super Rugby Pacific action at Melbourne’s Super Round against the Wellington-based Hurricanes (4-4) on Saturday.

But the Reds (7-1) will do it without their in-form five-eighth, who could miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.

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What the All Blacks squad could look like halfway through Super Rugby Pacific | Aotearoa Rugby Pod

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What the All Blacks squad could look like halfway through Super Rugby Pacific | Aotearoa Rugby Pod

O’Connor’s lateral collateral ligament was injured while kicking late in the last-round defeat of the Rebels when his straightened leg was collected by an attempted charge down.

Fullback Jordan Petaia will also miss Saturday’s clash with a low-grade hamstring strain suffered in a slip on the AAMI Park turf, but is expected to be fit to face the Chiefs next weekend.

O’Connor doesn’t require surgery but could still be out for the season, the four-to-six week recovery placing him in doubt for the final regular-season game against the Crusaders on May 27.

The Wallabies then face England in a three-test series in July, O’Connor keen to feature after a groin issue ensured he was a spectator for Australia’s home tests last year.

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His Rugby Championship absence paved the way for Quade Cooper’s memorable Wallabies return from Japanese rugby.

More immediate though is the impact O’Connor’s absence will have on an improved Reds side determined to improve a terrible record against New Zealand rivals.

The Reds have won just two of their last 22 games against New Zealand teams while the Hurricanes have won 15 of their last 17 games against the Reds and 19 of their last 21 against Australian opponents.

Jock Campbell (hand) returns from injury to replace Petaia while Lawson Creighton will wear the No.10 and Suliasi Vunivalu will play his second game of the season on the wing.

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“We’re going to need to bring more than fight,” Reds halfback Tate McDermott said of his side, who have lost just once despite playing inconsistently this year.

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“James was in some really good form there; he’ll be a big loss from the experience side of it.

“But it’s a shot for Lawson and I’m proud of how far he’s come.”

O’Connor’s injury also opens the door for Brumbies playmaker Noah Lolesio to make his case for test minutes, the No.10 set to return from an ankle injury to face the Dunedin-based Highlanders on Sunday.

Nic White will captain the side with Allan Alaalatoa (neck) a “week to week” proposition, according to coach Dan McKellar, while Tom Banks (facial injury) should be available next week.

Will Harrison will play fullback for the NSW Waratahs against the Hamilton-based Chiefs on Friday, shifting Alex Newsome to the wing and Dylan Pietsch to the bench.

Ben Donaldson (calf) is also back from injury, named on the bench behind No.10 Tane Edmed.

“He’s (Donaldson) now one hundred per cent and ready to go, and we’re hoping his presence will push both himself and Tane to a higher level and it will be interesting to see how that selection battle plays out over the next few weeks,” coach Darren Coleman said.

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J
JW 2 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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