Rugby World: Why 'burnt out' JOC opted out of Reds captaincy, Wallaroos' 'kick in the teeth,' NZR makes bubble call

Wallabies veteran James O’Connor has revealed his reasons for stepping down as Reds captain for the Super Rugby campaign while New Zealand Rugby has made a call on the Queenstwon bubble. Welcome to Rugby World.

James O’Connor, named on Wednesday as last year’s Super Rugby men’s player of the year, has detailed why he decided to step aside from a captaincy role.

His young halves partner Tate McDermott was promoted to partner Liam Wright as co-captain for the new Super Rugby Pacific season later this month.

Wright’s ankle injury before last season opened saw O’Connor step up into the leadership role, and from the outside, it looked like it barely affected him as he made a successful return.

But O’Connor said he was surprised by the scope of the job.

“There is so much work I had no idea of, stepping into that role,” O’Connor said.

“You’re involved in all the day to day stuff, programming, what’s happening off the field, making sure the team is heading in the right direction, the communication between the coaches and players.

“Credit to guys who have been doing that for a long time, it’s a big role.

“Because I’m a ball player I lead through my actions and what I’m doing on the field – guiding guys around the park making sure guys are sticking to game plan and that what comes most naturally to me.

He said he made an early decision after the season ended.

“There were conversations about a lot of things, performance, where we want to get to as a group,” said O’Connor.

“I sat down first with Bo Hanson, who looks after our high performance and mental game, and we just picked apart where I had strengths in the year, where I had improvements to make and how to get the best out of my performance.

“It fell back to that point where I probably took on a little too much. We wanted to strip it back this year so I could focus on the game plan, running the game and playing best I could consistently.”

O’Connor said he felt he peaked for the final of Super Rugby AU, and struggled to regain his edge through a difficult run of injuries that impacted his Wallabies returns later in the campaign.

“I felt like I possibly burnt out a little bit after Super Rugby AU.

“I was just a little bit off. To get up for training was a little more difficult,” O’Connor said. “I missed the last two games of Super, with that nerve injury, came into Wallaby camp and then I tore my groin the second day in. I decided I needed to balance things out a little better.”

He said Wright did a lot of work behind the scenes last season, and also gave rave reviews to McDermott’s leadership credentials.

“He’s not afraid to speak his mind and he’s very driven for a younger guy. He knows what he wants,” said O’Connor. “He’s disciplined and has his life in order. He is a well balanced guy and he’s going to be huge for us.”

O’Connor said he noticed a step up in the Reds’ physicality this year – on the back of double training sessions and an intense workload – as they aim to build on last year’s promise.

“We’ve recognised parts of our game that need improvement and we probably didn’t play as well as we could have last year,” he said.

“This year it’s been a huge pre-season. I’ve come back into the group and seen physically how much better the guys are from last year. Guys are hitting PBs in speed and strength and it’s about putting it out on the field. It’s exciting and consistency is the word.”

O’Connor was meanwhile keen to not look too far ahead, with the Wallabies facing a juicy series against England mid year. He said he looks two to three weeks ahead, and his focus was being ready to “kill it” in the opening round of Super Rugby.

‘Kick in the teeth’ for Wallaroos

The women’s player of the year award was won by Reds’ Lucy Lucy Lockhart, who will be racing the clock to make the World Cup in New Zealand in October.

Lockhart is pregnant with her first child, due in April.

“My goal is to be ready for selection for the World Cup,” she said Wednesday.

“The Wallaroos have been really supportive in regards to my pre-natal and post bub (plans).

“She’s due in the middle of April. That gives me 5 and a half months to be ready physically and mentally. I’ve been speaking to a lot rugby mums, and other mum athletes about their return to play and they said it’s not just a physical journey.

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“You have to think about it mentally because you’re away from the baby. This is my first so I’m really just learning the ropes and winging it.”

Lockhart reflected on the frustrations of a program hit hard by Covid, and, sitting alongside the estimated $300,000 signing O’Connor, gave a sobering insight into the state of the women’s game.

“Last year wasn’t the year for us – Covid hit us very hard,” said Lockhart. “It’s two years, coming onto three, where we haven’t played a game.”

Asked if it was frustrating to watch the Wallabies go on an autumn tour on top of their regular commitments, Lockhart answered: “Yeah of course it is. I’d be lying to say otherwise, but we aren’t fulltime contracted players yet so it is hard for us to get time off work.

“It would have meant two weeks quarantine prior to going over there, doing a tournament, then another two weeks quarantine back.

“There are a lot of logistics issues that were involved, but it was a bit of a kick in the teeth when we found out we couldn’t go anywhere.”

NZR heads for a bubble

New Zealand Rugby (NZR) will relocate the six New Zealand-based Super Rugby Pacific squads to Queenstown to mitigate against the risk of Covid sidelining any of the teams.

NZR General Manager Professional Rugby & Performance Chris Lendrum said in a statement that the move would provide the best chance of the inaugural season of Super Rugby Pacific kicking off as scheduled on Friday 18 February.

“Under current COVID-19 regulations, it would only take one positive case entering a squad environment to shut down an entire squad for 10 days. The knock-on effect for the rest of the competition would be the postponement or cancellation of matches,” Lendrum said.

“By moving the teams to a secure hub, we believe we have a good chance of preventing a COVID-19 infection, or close contact event, side-lining one of our teams for a prolonged period. The plan is currently for the teams to move to Queenstown early next week and remain in Queenstown for the opening three weeks of the competition.”

The Blues, Hurricanes, Moana Pasifika, and Chiefs will fly to Queenstown on charter flights, while the Crusaders and Highlanders will bus south this weekend.

The squads will operate in separate bubbles with exclusive use of training facilities in the Queenstown area. Day matches will be played in Queenstown at the Wakatipu Rugby Club whereas teams will bus to and from Rugby Park in Invercargill for any night matches.

Matches are scheduled to be played according to the revised Super Rugby Pacific draw announced last December with all matches broadcast live and exclusive on Sky. No crowds can attend.

Lendrum said the move to Queenstown was seen as a temporary measure with plans in place for teams to return to their home bases and regular venues in March. The timing of the move is based on recent modelling of likely infection rates.

“We are committed to bringing the teams home in early-March regardless of the COVID-19 landscape.”

“We realise there is a significant sacrifice in leaving whānau [family] behind to play these matches and we are grateful for the cooperation of our players, the New Zealand Rugby Players’ Association, Sky and also the Queenstown Lakes District Council who have accommodated our requests at short notice and providing facilities for our teams to train and play in the region.”