O'connor at 10

Evening people
Did'nt manage to watch all of the Australia - Baa-baas game on the weekend.
Quite a scoreline for the Wallabies. But how did O'connor get on against a very poor side?
Did he impress at 10? Does he have a future there?

He was very good imo. More consistent that Cooper and made a lot of breaks and great passes. Didn't kick much though.

From what I saw, he brings the same fleet footed step of Cooper, I remember seeing him dance past 3 defenders before getting the offload away.
Where do you think is his best position?

He is a superb player, the kind you could place anywhere in the backline and not worry about. He could be the answer for a 10 that Australia have been waiting for since Larkham retired.

He's got it all. Absolutely everything. In a year or so he will be as good as Carter in my humble opinion.

Aussie Backline should now be:

15: Beale
14: Turner
13: AAC
12: Quade
11: Ioane
10: O'Connor
9: Genia

Replacements: Burgess, Horne and Mitchell

I can't see Quade as a 12 I am afraid. Think they are more likely to have him at 10 and O'Connor at 12 which would squeeze Barnes/Horne out, both of whom had decent World Cups.

If O'Connor gets game time this year at 10 in the Super XV then we would be in a better position to judge his credentials. He will be competing with Cipriani...or maybe the Rebels will put Cipriani at 15 and move O'Connor to 10.

dgtaylor wrote:I can't see Quade as a 12 I am afraid. Think they are more likely to have him at 10 and O'Connor at 12 which would squeeze Barnes/Horne out, both of whom had decent World Cups.

If O'Connor gets game time this year at 10 in the Super XV then we would be in a better position to judge his credentials. He will be competing with Cipriani...or maybe the Rebels will put Cipriani at 15 and move O'Connor to 10.

I thought Horne missed the RWC? But Barnes is class, hopefully he can avoid any more concussions. I understand O'Connor is going to mainly play 12 for the Rebels, with the odd match in other positions.

Very possibly. Perhaps I was confusing him with McCabe?! Whichever one it was I remember him putting in some great tackles and generally doing a decent job at 12.

I think the lad is class he is a great winger but think he should be somewhere where he gets the ball more often

Berrick Barnes was awesome at 10 in the world cup, classy mo fo, cooper is another carlos spencer as majestic as he is a liability. I don't understand why barnes isn't seen as the next aussie 10.

I was wondering how many posts about o'connor before danny c was mentioned....don't care where he plays i hope he'll stay in the southern hemisphere and out of my newspapers.

Well seeing as they are now at the same club, can play similar positions, are of similar age and have had similar off field issues (albeit with Cipriani way out in front in those stakes) I think it is inevitable they would invite comparison.

The main difference is that Cipriani won't be playing in the 2015 World Cup.