James O'Connor confirms first Super Rugby final will be his last Crusaders game

Wednesday, 18 June 2025

James O’Connor has confirmed his first Super Rugby final will be his last game for the Crusaders as he and Rivez Reihana strive to match Chiefs star Damian McKenzie in Saturday’s title decider.

The Crusaders name their team on Wednesday , but O’Connor - who coach Rob Penney said was “buzzing like a blowfly in a glass jar - he’s been bouncing off the walls’’ - has been sharing the first five-eighth role with Reihana in recent weeks.

Two years ago Reihana was understudying McKenzie as part of the Chiefs wider squad when they lost the 2023 final to Crusaders.

This has been his breakthrough season for the Crusaders after an injury-marred 2024, and Reihana is thriving on the opportunity to meet his old mates with the trophy on the line at Christchurch’s Apollo Projects Stadium.

“I know those boys real well from being up there four or five years, you build some relationships, it’s definitely good to see them again,’’ said Reihana, who has already had some banter with Chiefs halfback Cortez Ratima.

But it’s McKenzie - who systematically tore the Brumbies apart in last Saturday’s semifinal - who the Crusaders’ must shut down without losing focus of the Chief’s other backline threats.

“The first few days we’ve been focussing on ourselves, I’m sure we’ll talk about [McKenzie] come Thursday,” Reihana said.

“The focus has been on what we can control. But obviously he’s a great player, and one of my role models back in the day. Looking forward to it.”

Asked how the Crusaders planned to shut down McKenzie, O’Connor quipped: “You tell me. I’ve been trying to work that out for a long time. He’s an incredible player. What he can do with the ball in hand on the front foot is second to none. For us, they’ve got good guys around him if we can nullify his threats. But then we just focus on our game as well.”

Reihana believes he has thrived from playing “consistent minutes’’ this year and from being alongside ”world-class players both inside and outside me, who make my job really easy and allow me to focus on my game.“

O’Connor made his Super Rugby debut in 2008 and he said having the chance to play in his first final “means everything’’and he could already feel “the vibe has changed’’ this week.

But as much as he is relishing the lead-up, he did confirm on Tuesday the final would be his last game in Crusaders’ red and black.

“It’s been an awesome journey, it was only ever planned for that one season,’’ the 34-year-old first five-eighth said.

“At one moment there was chatter about sticking around for another year because I was loving it so much and we were cooking.

“But, to be honest, you’ve got two young men who are incredible players and they’re ready. Look at what Taha [Kemara] and Rivez have both done in that 10 jersey. They’ve got some awesome battles to come up in the next couple of years, and James White as well.

“It’s time for the old fella to move on and see what happens next,” said O’Connor who claimed his young teammates, who were “keeping me young or young enough”.

O’Connor has been linked in the English media to a move to the Leicester Tigers to replace Springbok pivot Handré Pollard but he said he could not reveal his next destination yet.

“It’s in the works, we’re close. I’m looking for an exciting new adventure, I’m loving my footy and feeling in a good place in my body and my mind and I just want to keep playing at the top level.”

His next hope before a new club challenge is to win back his Wallabies jersey for the upcoming series against the touring British and Irish Lions.

“I’ve been in the game quite a while, and this is my first Super final. I”m proud of the efforts our team has gone to after everything that happened last year and our rebuild through this season.

“Grateful that I’ve come to such a great club and been given an opportunity and been able to step up and keep my body fit. The whole medical staff has been incredible for me, the coaches and the group as well, I’ve got a lot of love for these boys.”

O’Connor knew that the Crusaders had the talent and mindset to achieve special things even before he returned and he could “feel it in pre-season that there was a high skill level, and ”guys were challenging each other … in a good way, which he always felt was the hallmark of a strong team.

But it was the Crusaders’ culture, brotherhood “and care for each other’’ that struck him most.

He said “it’s a family here’’, a feeling he first experienced when there was a gift basket waiting as staff members took him and his wife to their house.

“You just feel that it oozes connection.”

O’Connor hopes to move into coaching eventually and said his Crusaders experience would help.

“It was definitely part of the mindset coming here as well to try and understand how this team’s been so successful. Now being here and feeling it, I get it. But I’ll keep that one to myself. There’s some good IQ on that.”

But first there’s a final to focus on, and the shot at a long-awaited winner’s medal.