Brumbies are not chasing Wallaby James O'Connor

BRUMBIES boss Andrew Fagan insists the ACT franchise is not pursuing Wallabies sensation James O'Connor and would only be interested in speaking with him if he is serious about leaving the Western Force.

O'Connor has been linked to both the Brumbies and the Melbourne Rebels, not overly surprising since the two other Australian franchises, the Queensland Reds and the NSW Waratahs, are both well-served by in-house geniuses, Quade Cooper and Kurtley Beale.

But while a move to the Brumbies might make apparent sense given that the Canberra side will lose Matt Giteau to France at the end of the season, Fagan would only entertain talks with him if O'Connor was unhappy in Perth, which he does not believe he is.

"We haven't put an offer to O'Connor, we haven't had a discussion with him," Fagan said. "Obviously, if he was to ring me tomorrow and said he wanted out of the Force, I'd probably talk to him. No, I'd definitely talk to him. But when we last spoke with him about 12 months ago, I got the feeling he was definitely committed to Perth."

This could, of course, be a masterstroke by Fagan to throw everyone off the scent for a sneaky approach to O'Connor when the Force comes to the national capital this week for Sunday's match with the Brumbies.

More likely it falls into the same category as Rebels coach Rod Macqueen's public pronouncement this season that Melbourne was not interested in Digby Ioane when it felt his manager was simply playing one franchise off against another.

Brumbies captain Giteau, meanwhile, is worrying not so much about O'Connor as about his rival skipper, Nathan Sharpe, the only other Australian Super Rugby captain to have done more pitchside post-match losing interviews than him this season.

"I know Sharpie," Giteau said. "Losing really hurts him, especially losing to another Australian team, so he will have hated going down to the Waratahs on Saturday.

"I hate fronting up for those interviews, as well, and the media thinks that what Sharpie and I say about digging deep and staying together is just a line. But it's not. And I know they're going to be coming for us.

"It was great for us to get the win over the Hurricanes, but it wasn't a fantastic performance. But hopefully, it was the second of many."

The Rebels will be strengthened by the return from injury of winger Cooper Vuna, halves James Hilgendorf and Sam Cordingley and flanker Hoani Macdonald for their match against the gritty Highlanders at The Stockade on Friday night.

Vuna almost certainly will come straight back into the starting side but the others may have to return via the bench, with Macqueen unlikely to make too many changes to the side that scored Melbourne's first away win, in Perth two weeks ago.

But with backline utility Julian Huxley still on the injury list, indications are that Richard Kingi will be selected in the back three.

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