Former Wallaby James O’Connor has flown out to South Africa to join the rest of the Australian squad ahead of a potential return to the international set-up.
O’Connor is yet to sign a contract with Rugby Australia following his departure from Sale Sharks but is currently in talks with the Melbourne Reds and it is believed that discussions are progressing nicely.
The chance comes sooner than expected for the 44-cap Wallaby, due to the fact that Marika Koroibete has been allowed to remain in Melbourne due to the birth of his second child.
There is a catch, which is that although he will travel to South Africa he is going on a train only basis at the moment.
Speaking about the 29-year-olds return to the squad, Wallabies head coach Michael Cheika thinks that it will provide him with an opportunity to impress.
“Marika (Koroibete) should join us later in the week, but mother nature is in charge here, so until then it’s a good opportunity for James to integrate into the team playing principles,” he said.
Meanwhile, David Pocock, who is still recovering from injury has also travelled with the squad and will continue his rehab there according to Cheika.
“For David, we really want to do some specific rehab work with him and it’s just better to have him with us at this stage to ensure we get his return to play exactly right,” he added.
For O’Connor it is a huge chance to stake a claim for some game-time in which he could show why he should go to the Rugby World Cup in Japan later this year.
