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And then the main course between the champions of Australia and New Zealand, in what former Crusaders star Andrew Mehrtens described as a "real litmus test" for the rebuilding Aussie game.<\/p>\n
O'Connor, who scored the game-winning try in the Super Rugby AU grand final and was voted the MVP of that tournament, has been cleared to start at five-eighth after passing his HIA tests this week.<\/p>\n
The Reds co-captain was forced from the field in the round loss to the Highlanders in Dunedin.<\/p>\n
READ MORE:<\/strong> Old fashioned bolter cracks Waratahs side<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Ex-Wallabies boss Cheika lands new job in Japan<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Australia's $2.5 billion Rugby World Cup bid<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n "Queensland is my home," O'Connor said after re-signing with the Reds and Rugby Australia through to the 2023 World Cup.<\/p>\n "I was born here. I love this state, I love pulling on the maroon jersey, and this is where I want to finish my career.<\/p>\n "We have a great team now and I think we are going to do some special things. I'm excited to be part of it and to help take them forward…"<\/p>\n The head to head battle with Crusaders star Richie Mo'unga is just one of many mouthwatering matchups.<\/p>\n "Physically I'm getting stronger and the results are saying that," O'Connor said at a function on Friday.<\/p>\n "I'm still learning – I only started playing 10 in the last year and half, so I'm still a student of the game so that is the goal, the World Cup.<\/p>\n "When I get to that point I'll be as much of a complete player as I can be."<\/p>\n "I'm very grateful and excited for what's to come.<\/p>\n "It's the first time I've actually been part of a team – these are my brothers, my country, my state. Why would I want to go anywhere else, because it is just the beginning."<\/p>\n For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Re-signed and re-born, James O'Connor looms as the key man for Australian rugby's "litmus test" against the Crusaders on Saturday night. Another bumper crowd is […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74076"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74076"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74078,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74076\/revisions\/74078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=74076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=74076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"O'Connor](\"https:\/\/vms-network-images-prod.s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com\/2021\/02\/340716\/pickerImage.jpg\")
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