April 18, 2025 • 11 mins
The Crusaders have beaten the Blues in an absolute thriller in Christchurch, thanks to a game-winning penalty from James O’Connor.
The former Wallaby stepped up, converting a penalty after the final buzzer to deliver his team yet another win, keeping them at the top of the table.
He joined Piney to reflect on the kick and how he’s been enjoying playing in New Zealand.
“Awesome to get that win because that was definitely a battle.”
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from News Talks EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
James O'Connor penalty on the last play of the game
has given the Crusaders a twenty five twenty two went
over the Blues in a super rugby thriller in christ
Church last night.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Strikes it through Elisoder.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
James, I gotta wins it for the Crusaders. Finally scored
tweety five points to twenty two. Yeah, the Crusaders awarded
a scrum penalty after the final hooter. James O'Connor's kicked
from fifty seven meters out sailing through the middle of
the posts never looked like missing. James O'Connor's with us,
(00:51):
how are the emotions made as you as you line
that one up to win the game?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Honestly, even before that scrum packed down, I could fill
the pack. We're going for it. So I had already
started my breathing process before the scrum. So I was
getting getting ready to either sit in the pocket and
try hit to drop me or yeah, I could feel that, Yeah,
the penery was coming. So like man, full credit to
our park. That was huge shift.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
And so the ball leaves, your boot goes through the
posts house the adrenaline after that you get swamped by
your teammates on a pretty wet night in christ Church.
How were the emotions after all went through?
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Man, Well, so I had to kick probably five minutes
earlier from the same spot and I didn't hit it
as clean. So that last one, yeah, really just stucked
the process because I could feel, you know, the leg
was twitching a little bit when the run up was coming,
So I just brought it back to process and just
you drown everything out and as soon as I hit it,
I felt I hit it pretty clean. So once it
(01:49):
went through, yeah, achilearation, it was an unreal moment with
the group and yeah, just yeah awesome to get that
win because that was definitely a battle of that one,
you know, wet weather, footy, tough conditions and like, to
be honest, Blues really dominated the huge parts of that game.
So for us to galupanize and come back again and
then win, it's massive for our season.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
So you said before, you were also lined up for
a dropper if needed off that final scrum. If you
hadn't got the scrum penalty, you were lined up for
a droppy. That would have been tougher in wet conditions.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Oh yeah, you don't know. The way I hit dropper
is too you.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
Don't want to go that's so yeah. I wasn't going
to kick obviously do a drop off the scrum, but
I think I've been in the situations before where I
haven't sat in the pocket and taken it and regretted
it like you don't want to die wondering. So like
we had a process of if we don't get it,
twodays sort of set up and.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Yeah, then shit back. But luckily we didn't have to
go to that because I think that probably would have
been a different outcome.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Well we'll never know, but let's I'm little pleased that
worked out the way that it. Could you just talk
about your forward pack and that final scrum. Could you
feel the desire among your forwards to really dominate that
final scrum?
Speaker 3 (03:03):
Oh yeah, massively. Could you could see even that sort
of last minutes Like I only came on with sort
of ten minutes ago, but you could feel the energy
on the field that the boys zoned in. There was
definitely a hunger there, but from the Blues as well.
They wanted it badly, but yeah, I could just see
obviously we got it. We had a scrum penalty five
minutes before that which set up you know, the first
the first kick, so you know, back to fact, there
(03:25):
was huge, huge shit.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Just before we move on from from the final play.
Do you still put as much work into your goal
kicking as you always have?
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Probably more so now, Like I feel like, well, that's
I guess that's my role with this team sort of
to come on and close games out, whether it's just
speed it up or to finish it off. So I
think again, talking about the job kicking, I've never hit
so many job kicks during training weeks as well, So
I've been putting a lot of work into those finishing touches,
(03:55):
whether it's kicking out of hand, kicking off the tee,
or just it's man from your ten. Especially in wet
weather footy, that's your sole job. Really, Like the forwards
go to a war for you, they go to battle,
So if you can't put them in the right parts
of the field, or you can't almost complete your basic
skill sets, that's purely my job in those games. So
(04:17):
I'm just glad, Yeah I could do it for the boys.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
So shortly after you came on last night, the Blues
went twenty to nineteen ahead with about twelve minutes to go.
That was after you'd led nineteen seven early in the
second half. So at that point, what sort of conversations
are going on out there among the Crusaders players.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
So for me, like coming on, it's not the pleasure,
but like I got to watch the game sort of
from the bench, so I'm seeing sort of what's working,
what isn't, and I guess how we can get down there.
So like I felt like that last sort of twelve
minutes we still had time. It wasn't about you know,
panicking and trying to overplay. It was about just territory
and possession and for that. So we're just going to
(04:59):
our bankers from our lineouts and then just finding kickspace
where we could push them back and then hopefully just
creep up the field a little bit of forcy and
then yeah, so I worked, We stuck the process, and
all the game drivers were on the same page in
terms of what exactly we wanted to do to get
the outcome. And it's just beautiful when it all, you know,
it sinks up like a symphony. I guess absolutely.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
And you've played every game this season, all but one,
though in an impact role like last night. Has that
meat needed much of an adjustment on your part to
play a slightly different role.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Oh yeah, massively. Like I'm not going to lie. I
love starting. I've always you know, that's sort of what
you play the game for. But moving into this different role,
it was pretty cleve and like their conversations I had
with all the coaches and stuff like that was that
was sort of the role we saw that I could
really I guess hop the team was sort of like
that last twenty or thirty minutes, like I said, sort
(05:53):
of closing games out. And it hasn't been something in
the past that I've loved or have done that well at.
So I have all the detail. Like you know, I've
been in the game for a long time, so I
know how to do it. It's just about doing it
correctly and all just about moments, you know, fewer choices
and just execution. So I've really focused on that this season.
(06:14):
That's sort of my role and that's how I can
have the team and that's you know, my game right now.
Is that part that last sort of thirty minutes and
making sure we're playing in the right areas of the
field and then taking our opportunity. So a shift in
mindset definitely, because you know, you come off the bench
and a lot of the time, well most other positions,
you just want to come on and make an impact,
get your hands on the ball, go to work. So
(06:36):
my big thing is about almost keeping the guys calm,
working hard in that backfield so they're not getting too
much space because guys like you know, Will Jordan are
playing eighty minutes each week, so I want to make
sure you know, I'm coming on and taking some of
the load off him, running me wise and covering a lot.
But other than that, it's literally just about process and
getting the guys in the right parts of the field
(06:57):
so we're in the battle, in the fight, and you
know can do those sort of things.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
So the bloke and the team Jersey tah Kamata, how
do you evaluate his potential?
Speaker 3 (07:06):
I mean, he's incredible talent, Nay's I've said it before.
He's one of the most naturally gifted tens I've played with,
and he's just got such a love for the game.
The way like his composure and the way he sees
it and just his foot speed and his pass like
he's a very gifted guy. But I think that only
takes us so far. But for me, it's his willingness,
(07:27):
willingness to learn, Like the amount of conversations we have
about rugby and about footy. It's awesome because we're both
challenging each other and both growing from each other and
rivers as well. Like it's been sort of tougher for
him because he had an injury at the start of
the year and you know he's fiding his way back
into the group. But our connections between all of us
tens and game drivers is awesome. Like the amount of
(07:48):
review the guys who aren't playing to doing for us
in terms of what they're seeing in attack plans, how
we review oppositions, how we're previewing games. It's like it's
it's awesome to see everyone just helping each other. We're
working for the one jersey, but you know we're you know,
we're all on the same page in it together. You
can definitely feel it's a team performance, like a full
(08:09):
squad performance.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
It's so good. When you came into the team this year,
did you feel any lingering effects of the team's disappointing
twenty twenty four.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
One hundred percent wasn't shied away from First Bloody. Few
meetings were all about this isn't a Crusader standard, like
where do we go wrong and how do we fix them?
And then just the conversations of it's it was never
about being a victim. It was like, how do we
step up? How do we own you know, how do
we own this and move forward and get back to
the crusaders DNA. And it's not about doing what teams
(08:42):
did in the past. It's taking, you know, elements of
what you know the successful teams have done. But it's
a new, new super rugby style, it's a new system,
the rules have changed, so it's just about all sinking
up on the same page. But it's probably the one
team I've been a part of where there's no showing
away from winning like a lot of other teams I
played for in the past. We've spoken about playing good
(09:04):
rugby and the process, which it's a huge part of it,
but I felt like it was a line in the
sand of like this is not good enough. This is
where we need to be. We want this more than
any other team, and I think each week you feel
when we turn out, especially like a game against the Blues.
So we took that one like it was origin, genuinely,
like that was the theme for the week was you know,
Queensland Versuy South Wales and this is going to go
(09:26):
down to the world. We knew that, we knew the
conditions weren't going to be ideal, so then it's literally
just about you know, heart and kaha and I feel
like our boys went to war, so there's going to
be a few sore bodies from both sides. I feel.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
I love that you're still hard of that Wallaby's ambition, James.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
I do. I do. There is definitely a big part
of me that would love to go full circle and
I'm playing that line series and see what happens after that.
But I'm not attached to it too much. I'm just
loving my footy, loving living in New Zealand and the
family of just enjoying our life. Like on field, obviously
it's gone really well and I'm enjoying it. It's definitely
(10:05):
gonna be New Zes for life, but away from footy
as well, like we're very we're very shuttled in just
enjoying this new environment. There's beach, the River lakes. There's
so much sort of I guess natural beauty over here
that we're really just delving into.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
That is great to hear. There was some talk online
last night about your all blacks eligibility, people saying aways
and play for Australia for a while, maybe you could
play for us.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Yeah, hey, my parents are both key with but look,
I don't think they feel blacks to falling back on me. Yeah,
they've got enough good tens in their stable, you know. Hey,
And you know, look, I'm golder as it going through.
That's you know that, that's where my heart is. But
(10:55):
they're not going to come back, let's be honest.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Well, you're one of the most popular men in christ
Church last night, I can tell you that. So congratulations
on another win for the Crusaders, which keeps you clear
at the top of the table. And enjoy the rest
of the beast weekend. James, thanks for having a chat
to us, mate.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
I appreciate it. We'll do and looking forward to the
weekend off. It's gonna be great.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Thank good on you, James. Thanks indeed, James O'Connor, how
can you not like him? He seems like a real
good rooster, doesn't he. James O'Connor Loving life in christ Church,
Loving life with the Crusaders, The Crusaders, Loving life with
James O'Connor and the team, and they're clearly getting the
best out of them.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live
to News Talk said Be weekends from midday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from News Talks EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
James O'Connor penalty on the last play of the game
has given the Crusaders a twenty five twenty two went
over the Blues in a super rugby thriller in christ
Church last night.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Strikes it through Elisoder.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
James, I gotta wins it for the Crusaders. Finally scored
tweety five points to twenty two. Yeah, the Crusaders awarded
a scrum penalty after the final hooter. James O'Connor's kicked
from fifty seven meters out sailing through the middle of
the posts never looked like missing. James O'Connor's with us,
(00:51):
how are the emotions made as you as you line
that one up to win the game?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Honestly, even before that scrum packed down, I could fill
the pack. We're going for it. So I had already
started my breathing process before the scrum. So I was
getting getting ready to either sit in the pocket and
try hit to drop me or yeah, I could feel that, Yeah,
the penery was coming. So like man, full credit to
our park. That was huge shift.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
And so the ball leaves, your boot goes through the
posts house the adrenaline after that you get swamped by
your teammates on a pretty wet night in christ Church.
How were the emotions after all went through?
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Man, Well, so I had to kick probably five minutes
earlier from the same spot and I didn't hit it
as clean. So that last one, yeah, really just stucked
the process because I could feel, you know, the leg
was twitching a little bit when the run up was coming,
So I just brought it back to process and just
you drown everything out and as soon as I hit it,
I felt I hit it pretty clean. So once it
(01:49):
went through, yeah, achilearation, it was an unreal moment with
the group and yeah, just yeah awesome to get that
win because that was definitely a battle of that one,
you know, wet weather, footy, tough conditions and like, to
be honest, Blues really dominated the huge parts of that game.
So for us to galupanize and come back again and
then win, it's massive for our season.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
So you said before, you were also lined up for
a dropper if needed off that final scrum. If you
hadn't got the scrum penalty, you were lined up for
a droppy. That would have been tougher in wet conditions.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Oh yeah, you don't know. The way I hit dropper
is too you.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
Don't want to go that's so yeah. I wasn't going
to kick obviously do a drop off the scrum, but
I think I've been in the situations before where I
haven't sat in the pocket and taken it and regretted
it like you don't want to die wondering. So like
we had a process of if we don't get it,
twodays sort of set up and.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Yeah, then shit back. But luckily we didn't have to
go to that because I think that probably would have
been a different outcome.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Well we'll never know, but let's I'm little pleased that
worked out the way that it. Could you just talk
about your forward pack and that final scrum. Could you
feel the desire among your forwards to really dominate that
final scrum?
Speaker 3 (03:03):
Oh yeah, massively. Could you could see even that sort
of last minutes Like I only came on with sort
of ten minutes ago, but you could feel the energy
on the field that the boys zoned in. There was
definitely a hunger there, but from the Blues as well.
They wanted it badly, but yeah, I could just see
obviously we got it. We had a scrum penalty five
minutes before that which set up you know, the first
the first kick, so you know, back to fact, there
(03:25):
was huge, huge shit.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Just before we move on from from the final play.
Do you still put as much work into your goal
kicking as you always have?
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Probably more so now, Like I feel like, well, that's
I guess that's my role with this team sort of
to come on and close games out, whether it's just
speed it up or to finish it off. So I
think again, talking about the job kicking, I've never hit
so many job kicks during training weeks as well, So
I've been putting a lot of work into those finishing touches,
(03:55):
whether it's kicking out of hand, kicking off the tee,
or just it's man from your ten. Especially in wet
weather footy, that's your sole job. Really, Like the forwards
go to a war for you, they go to battle,
So if you can't put them in the right parts
of the field, or you can't almost complete your basic
skill sets, that's purely my job in those games. So
(04:17):
I'm just glad, Yeah I could do it for the boys.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
So shortly after you came on last night, the Blues
went twenty to nineteen ahead with about twelve minutes to go.
That was after you'd led nineteen seven early in the
second half. So at that point, what sort of conversations
are going on out there among the Crusaders players.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
So for me, like coming on, it's not the pleasure,
but like I got to watch the game sort of
from the bench, so I'm seeing sort of what's working,
what isn't, and I guess how we can get down there.
So like I felt like that last sort of twelve
minutes we still had time. It wasn't about you know,
panicking and trying to overplay. It was about just territory
and possession and for that. So we're just going to
(04:59):
our bankers from our lineouts and then just finding kickspace
where we could push them back and then hopefully just
creep up the field a little bit of forcy and
then yeah, so I worked, We stuck the process, and
all the game drivers were on the same page in
terms of what exactly we wanted to do to get
the outcome. And it's just beautiful when it all, you know,
it sinks up like a symphony. I guess absolutely.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
And you've played every game this season, all but one,
though in an impact role like last night. Has that
meat needed much of an adjustment on your part to
play a slightly different role.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Oh yeah, massively. Like I'm not going to lie. I
love starting. I've always you know, that's sort of what
you play the game for. But moving into this different role,
it was pretty cleve and like their conversations I had
with all the coaches and stuff like that was that
was sort of the role we saw that I could
really I guess hop the team was sort of like
that last twenty or thirty minutes, like I said, sort
(05:53):
of closing games out. And it hasn't been something in
the past that I've loved or have done that well at.
So I have all the detail. Like you know, I've
been in the game for a long time, so I
know how to do it. It's just about doing it
correctly and all just about moments, you know, fewer choices
and just execution. So I've really focused on that this season.
(06:14):
That's sort of my role and that's how I can
have the team and that's you know, my game right now.
Is that part that last sort of thirty minutes and
making sure we're playing in the right areas of the
field and then taking our opportunity. So a shift in
mindset definitely, because you know, you come off the bench
and a lot of the time, well most other positions,
you just want to come on and make an impact,
get your hands on the ball, go to work. So
(06:36):
my big thing is about almost keeping the guys calm,
working hard in that backfield so they're not getting too
much space because guys like you know, Will Jordan are
playing eighty minutes each week, so I want to make
sure you know, I'm coming on and taking some of
the load off him, running me wise and covering a lot.
But other than that, it's literally just about process and
getting the guys in the right parts of the field
(06:57):
so we're in the battle, in the fight, and you
know can do those sort of things.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
So the bloke and the team Jersey tah Kamata, how
do you evaluate his potential?
Speaker 3 (07:06):
I mean, he's incredible talent, Nay's I've said it before.
He's one of the most naturally gifted tens I've played with,
and he's just got such a love for the game.
The way like his composure and the way he sees
it and just his foot speed and his pass like
he's a very gifted guy. But I think that only
takes us so far. But for me, it's his willingness,
(07:27):
willingness to learn, Like the amount of conversations we have
about rugby and about footy. It's awesome because we're both
challenging each other and both growing from each other and
rivers as well. Like it's been sort of tougher for
him because he had an injury at the start of
the year and you know he's fiding his way back
into the group. But our connections between all of us
tens and game drivers is awesome. Like the amount of
(07:48):
review the guys who aren't playing to doing for us
in terms of what they're seeing in attack plans, how
we review oppositions, how we're previewing games. It's like it's
it's awesome to see everyone just helping each other. We're
working for the one jersey, but you know we're you know,
we're all on the same page in it together. You
can definitely feel it's a team performance, like a full
(08:09):
squad performance.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
It's so good. When you came into the team this year,
did you feel any lingering effects of the team's disappointing
twenty twenty four.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
One hundred percent wasn't shied away from First Bloody. Few
meetings were all about this isn't a Crusader standard, like
where do we go wrong and how do we fix them?
And then just the conversations of it's it was never
about being a victim. It was like, how do we
step up? How do we own you know, how do
we own this and move forward and get back to
the crusaders DNA. And it's not about doing what teams
(08:42):
did in the past. It's taking, you know, elements of
what you know the successful teams have done. But it's
a new, new super rugby style, it's a new system,
the rules have changed, so it's just about all sinking
up on the same page. But it's probably the one
team I've been a part of where there's no showing
away from winning like a lot of other teams I
played for in the past. We've spoken about playing good
(09:04):
rugby and the process, which it's a huge part of it,
but I felt like it was a line in the
sand of like this is not good enough. This is
where we need to be. We want this more than
any other team, and I think each week you feel
when we turn out, especially like a game against the Blues.
So we took that one like it was origin, genuinely,
like that was the theme for the week was you know,
Queensland Versuy South Wales and this is going to go
(09:26):
down to the world. We knew that, we knew the
conditions weren't going to be ideal, so then it's literally
just about you know, heart and kaha and I feel
like our boys went to war, so there's going to
be a few sore bodies from both sides. I feel.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
I love that you're still hard of that Wallaby's ambition, James.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
I do. I do. There is definitely a big part
of me that would love to go full circle and
I'm playing that line series and see what happens after that.
But I'm not attached to it too much. I'm just
loving my footy, loving living in New Zealand and the
family of just enjoying our life. Like on field, obviously
it's gone really well and I'm enjoying it. It's definitely
(10:05):
gonna be New Zes for life, but away from footy
as well, like we're very we're very shuttled in just
enjoying this new environment. There's beach, the River lakes. There's
so much sort of I guess natural beauty over here
that we're really just delving into.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
That is great to hear. There was some talk online
last night about your all blacks eligibility, people saying aways
and play for Australia for a while, maybe you could
play for us.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
Yeah, hey, my parents are both key with but look,
I don't think they feel blacks to falling back on me. Yeah,
they've got enough good tens in their stable, you know. Hey,
And you know, look, I'm golder as it going through.
That's you know that, that's where my heart is. But
(10:55):
they're not going to come back, let's be honest.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Well, you're one of the most popular men in christ
Church last night, I can tell you that. So congratulations
on another win for the Crusaders, which keeps you clear
at the top of the table. And enjoy the rest
of the beast weekend. James, thanks for having a chat
to us, mate.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
I appreciate it. We'll do and looking forward to the
weekend off. It's gonna be great.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Thank good on you, James. Thanks indeed, James O'Connor, how
can you not like him? He seems like a real
good rooster, doesn't he. James O'Connor Loving life in christ Church,
Loving life with the Crusaders, The Crusaders, Loving life with
James O'Connor and the team, and they're clearly getting the
best out of them.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live
to News Talk said Be weekends from midday, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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