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Watch: James O'Connor gets creamed by a classic ball-and-all tackle in his 100th Super game
By Sam Smith
James O’Connor celebrated his 100th Super game in the Queensland Reds opening Super Rugby Pacific encounter against the Melbourne Rebels on Saturday night at Suncorp Stadium.
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He was given a bellringer just 12th minutes into his milestone match when Rebels Number 8 Michael Wells put a perfectly timed blindside tackle on the Reds flyhalf, dislodging the ball with the perfect shot.
O’Connor could do nothing about the crunching hit, taking the pass from Tate McDermott a split second before the arrival of Wells into contact. The Wallabies flyhalf could only shake his head and smile about the hospital ball afterward.
Commentator Sean Maloney on the call described the tackle on O’Connor as getting ‘absolutely jammed’.
A present for James O’Connor in his 100th game 💥#StanSportAU #SuperRugbyPacific #REDvREB pic.twitter.com/LCDHzTMFbO
— Stan Sport (@StanSportAU) February 19, 2022
Shortly after the monstrous hit, Reds prop Taniela Tupou scored the opening try in the corner before O’Connor added the extras to take the lead. Two more penalties from the boot of O’Connor built a 13-5 halftime lead for the home side.
Lamentable errors from the Rebels hamstrung their chances as handling let them down on multiple occasions.
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A try to Reds Number 8 Harry Wilson less than ten minutes into the second half extended the Reds lead to 18-5 before a final try in the last minute to Jock Campbell sealed the 23-5 win.
O’Connor was able to taste victory for the Reds in his 100th Super Rugby game, which came 14 years after his debut for the Western Force as a 17-year-old back in 2008.
His Super Rugby career spanned 39 caps for the Force before a two year stint at the Melbourne Rebels which featured 21 appearances. His 40 games for the Queensland Reds has come in two stints, returning to the club in 2019 after a short one season stay in 2015.
James O'Connor makes his 100th @SuperRugby appearance 13 years after his debut as the only 17-year-old Super Rugby player ever. Just three others have taken longer to reach the 100 game milestone: Tony Brown, Adam Thomson and Carlos Spencer.
— Stuart Farmer (@Stu_Farmer) February 19, 2022
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🏏 100* for this #SuperRugbyPacific great!
Congratulations, James O'Connor on your 100th match pic.twitter.com/7CN585EWdj
— Super Rugby Pacific (@SuperRugby) February 19, 2022
James O'Connor's been playing professional rugga since I was in form 3 and he looks better than ever 👏🏾
— Bags (@kasondechiti) February 19, 2022
