O’Connor was a fresh-faced 21-year-old at the time and played a starring role in a 24-18 win for the Wallabies in a game which was Wales legend Shane Williams’ final Test before retirement. It has been a bumpy ride at times, but in the 10 years since, O’Connor has established himself as one of the most talented footballers in world rugby.
This afternoon he will wear the Wallabies outside-half jersey once again at Principality Stadium – a ground he has played at three times previously. “It was a short spring tour after the 2011 Rugby World Cup,” said O’Connor when asked to recall the that year’s clash with Wales.
“It was all attack and we went all out. It was a great experience for me and I really enjoyed playing. I always enjoy playing at Principality Stadium.
“It’s an awesome atmosphere which brings a lot of people into the city and there is a big buzz around the place. We are expecting a dry pitch again. We want to go out there and play and we want to play our style of footy. We’ve just got to get our balance right.
“It’s a very simple thing to say, but if we are all connected in that moment, then we’ll put a good effort on the field.”Now 31, O’Connor is one of the most experienced players in the Australian side having won 61 caps for his country.
Dave Rennie’s side will need all the knowhow they can get after their inspirational captain Michael Hooper was ruled out of this afternoon’s encounter due to injury. In Hooper’s absence, 113-times capped prop James Slipper will captain the side, but O’Connor insists there is an onus on all the senior players, including himself, to stand up and be counted.
“It’s obviously devastating to lose our captain but the boys are pretty excited,” said O’Connor. “There was a big roar when we were told James would be captain. He’s one of our leaders and in our leadership group. He’s been there and done it and he’s a very steady presence on the field.
“It’s credit to the hard work he puts in. He hasn’t played tighthead prop since 2012 so we asked a lot of him, but he delivered big time. He’s very authentic, he’s himself, he’s a great bloke, and we’re excited to have him lead us out for our last game this year. It’s just his job as normal for him.
“He’s usually using the guys around him to speak on detail. He comes in with a lot of emotion, but as far as we are concerned, he’s just a man of action. That’s what he does well. He does what he says and he puts his body on the line every week.”
The Wallabies seemed to have turned a corner during the recent Rugby Championship as they recorded back-to-back victories over world champions South Africa; a feat even New Zealand couldn’t match. But having come to the northern hemisphere with five straight Test wins under their belt, they were hit by a serious of withdrawals.
Japanese-based players such as mercurial outside-half Quade Cooper, influential centre Samu Kerevi, and loose forward Sean McMahon decided to pull out of the touring squad, instead reporting for pre-season training with their respective Japanese clubs.
On the flip side, the Wallabies were boosted by the selection of a few French-based stars included gigantic La Rochelle second row Will Skelton, underrated Toulouse lock Rory Arnold, and abrasive Stade Francais hooker Tolu Latu.
Their tour to date has not gone to plan though with the Wallabies narrowly losing their opening two Test matches to Scotland and England respectively. It means today’s clash with Six Nations champions Wales is their final opportunity to avoid what would be a hugely disappointing European whitewash.
“From my point of view, Scotland was probably a slow start,” said O’Connor who kicked all 15 of Australia’s points against England last weekend.
“I felt like I eased into that game and probably took a little bit too long to flatten the attack up. I thought I built on that for the England game.
“If you don’t have the correct discipline and your foundations aren’t strong, you can’t win a Test match. The margin for error is so small. Back in the southern hemisphere it’s a lot quicker footy and there are more opportunities where you can pull the trigger and score tries.
“Over here, you only get a couple. If you aren’t ready to take those and you aren’t in the moment, then you are going to miss them. I think the penalty count was 10-22 against England and we were piggybacking them into the game.
“There are a lot of good things we can take out of that game and also a heap of good things we can take out of this year. It’s two losses and we’ve all learnt big lessons from them. This week is about putting it together.
“It’s about finding that balance of how we play and also playing the conditions. We want to finish the tour on a high. We’ve really built this year so we want to show the public what we can do.”
There will also be a mouth-watering head-to-head clash this afternoon with Welsh speedster Louis Rees-Zammit coming up against Australia wing Andrew Kellaway who has scored eight tries in 12 matches. Rees-Zammit lit up Principality Stadium last weekend with a sensational try which sealed a hard-fought win over Fiji.
Both players have made an electric start to their careers as international players and have been rewarded with a nomination each for World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year. Kellaway is expecting a very tough challenge against Wales.
“It’s a bit of surprise but a welcome one nonetheless,” said Kellaway when asked about his nomination.
“There are all sorts of emotions flying around.
“We were a little bit flat after the games we lost. We believe we could have and probably should have won or at least put ourselves in a position to win.
“We get another chance this weekend and we are pumped. I think everyone is talking about Fiji because they were awesome. Wales are a class act and put Fiji to the sword to finish that game. We are well aware of that fact and this week we are going to have to be on our game.
“If we let guys like Dan Biggar into the game with his kicking through penalties and ill-discipline, we are going to be on the back foot.”
