Battle for Wallabies No.10 jersey could force James O’Connor to shift to fullback

James O’Connor wants to contribute more to the Wallabies’ cause, whether it’s from flyhalf or fullback.

Star flyhalf James O’Connor is open to the prospect of shifting to fullback for Australia’s series against England as the battle for the Wallabies’ No.10 jersey intensifies.

Queenslander O’Connor, Japan-based Quade Cooper and Brumbies young gun Noah Lolesio are the flyhalf options in the 35-man Wallabies squad which has gathered on the Sunshine Coast.

Cooper returned from the international wilderness last year to start in four of Australia’s Rugby Championship Tests.

With O’Connor injured, Lolesio started in the Wallabies’ first two Tests of their Rugby Championship campaign – both which ended in heavy losses to New Zealand – before making way for Cooper.

O’Connor returned for the final two Tests of the four-nation series, starting on the bench in matches against Argentina and replacing Cooper in the second-half in both of Australia’s wins over the Pumas.

Cooper also started in Australia’s 32-23 defeat of Japan in October before making himself unavailable for the Wallabies’ tour of the United Kingdom in November.

It led to O’Connor starting at flyhalf in Australia’s losses to Scotland, England and Wales.

O’Connor, who admitted he wasn’t happy with his form in the three defeats, said it would be “high competition” for the Wallabies’ flyhalf role next month.

Quade Cooper made a successful return to the Wallabies last year. Picture: Matt Roberts/Getty Images

“Each of us play in our unique way and we all have different strengths and weaknesses,” said O’Connor, who is back to full fitness after missing the closing stages of the Reds’ Super Rugby Pacific campaign with a hamstring injury.

“To be fair, it’s going to be a good battle, a good, tough one, so we’ll see what happens in these next few weeks in training camp and see where the cards lie.”

And if the shuffling of the deck leads to Wallabies coach Dave Rennie instead selecting O’Connor at fullback against Eddie Jones’ England team, he’ll be comfortable with that.

“If Dave wanted me to play 15 (fullback), I’d put my hand up to play 15, for sure,” the veteran of 61 Test appearances said.

“We spoke a little bit about it last year, but nothing this year.

“This year’s all just been about playing 10, improving my game there and just working on the little things that we both discussed that I could benefit from, but … we haven’t had too much communication.

“When you’re in Super Rugby season, it’s eyes on the prize there. Now we’re in (Wallabies camp) we’ll see what happens.”

Wherever he’s chosen, O’Connor hopes to contribute more than he did in the UK last November.

“It wasn’t my best tour. I just found it a little bit difficult to get into the game,” he said.

“Whether that was just the way we were playing as a group, (and) also, just myself, I was probably a step too deep.

“I was probably preparing for conditions that didn’t actually come. It was actually pretty quick over there. We were thinking it was going to be a bit more wet-weather footy.

“Leading into Test matches, it is a step up, so you want to be prepared and physically so you can put your stamp on the game.

“I definitely feel like I’m in that place now.”

Originally published as Battle for Wallabies No.10 jersey could force James O’Connor to shift to fullback