O'Connor too young to rep in U/20s

[KenyaQuin]

Rising star too young for U/20s
Bret Harris | May 07, 2008 Rising star too young for U/20s | The Australian

IN an absurd situation, Western Force rookie inside back James O'Connor has been deemed too young to represent Australia in an under-20 world championship only three days after making an outstanding Super 14 run-on debut.

O'Connor, 17, started for the Force in the thrilling 22-21 win against the Chiefs in Perth last Saturday and he is regarded as a chance to tour Europe in an expanded Wallabies squad at the end of the year.

But an IRB regulation ruled out O'Connor and two other Super 14 players, Brumbies backs Afusipa Taumoepeau and Matt Tomua, because they were under 18 years of age.

Under rule 4.3 of the IRB tournament rules on eligibility: the player shall be born between January 1, 1988 and December 31, 1989. No player born outside the stipulated period shall be permitted to play in the tournament.

O'Connor was born on July 7, 1990, missing the cut by just over six months. The ARU unsuccessfully applied for dispensation for the three players.

Nevertheless, there are still 10 players with Super 14 experience in the 26-man Australian squad for the inaugural under-20 tournament, following the merger of the under-19s and under-21s, in Wales next month.

The squad includes Super 14 regulars Kurtley Beale and Rob Horne (NSW), Queensland's Quade Cooper and Will Genia and the Force's Sam Wykes and David Pocock.

Several players such as Pocock, Beale and Horne are still in contention for the Wallabies and Australia A selection, which could affect the final composition of the under-20 squad.

Rookie winger Dane Haylett-Petty, who was also named in the Australian under-20 squad, and prop Kieran Longbottom, will make their Super 14 run-on debuts against the Hurricanes.

[Stone Cold]

classic bureacracy....i love it

In their interpretation, they are technically correct - the best kind of correct

[The InnFORCEr]

As Kearnsy said in commentry last week "If your good enough, your old enough"

[pruc]

too young to play for australia
but old enough to play in the hardest provinsual competition in the world?
go figure.

[jono]

in a way its not all bad. gives them both a year to work on their skills so they make sure they get selected for next year.
but at the moment i'm sure they would both be feeling pretty cheated.

[Burgs]

Would be pretty easy to write the clause in there: "...unless the individual has played for a professional team in a Tier 1 Nation International Provincial based competition." (or wording to that effect)

[jono]

i thought the rule that was changed so players like o'connor could play said they if they were physically able to play they could.
like if they were strong enough to take the hits and such.
because o'connor proved to us all that he can take and dish out the tackles required to play.
i still think its crap.
the bocs have the world cup and the blacks are seen as the best team in the world (in a non world cup sense). if he can handle playing against players from those teams, and players trying to get INTO those teams. he should survive the under 20's comp without too much difficulty

[Swee_82]

Jono, I think the rules were changed after Pocock for S14, but since some genius wrote the following specific dates into the rules for U20:

Under rule 4.3 of the IRB tournament rules on eligibility: the player shall be born between January 1, 1988 and December 31, 1989. No player born outside the stipulated period shall be permitted to play in the tournament.

there's no room to include O'Conner in the squad. As Burgs mentioned, a little edit to include those already exposed to top-tier provincial rugby probably should have been considered.

[jono]

yeah thats what i was getting at.
sorry, it might not have been that clear
i knew what i wanted to say

[lozenga]

o'connor is soo good!
sooo bad he cant play!
its stupid!

[GIGS20]

o'connor is soo good!
sooo bad he cant play!
its stupid!

No problems, Gives him the opportunity to play for Australia A and the Wallabies before he plays Under 20s

[laura]

Under rule 4.3 of the IRB tournament rules on eligibility: the player shall be born between January 1, 1988 and December 31, 1989. No player born outside the stipulated period shall be permitted to play in the tournament.

Yeehooo I can play then!! It doesnt say you have to be a bloke!

Its a shame that they can't play, but I don't think they would be complaining about missing out on U/20's when they have had the amazing opportunity to play in the Super14...what would they prefer??

[Endurance]

Team: Albert Anae (Queensland), Kurtley Beale (NSW), Peter Betham (NSW), Nathan Charles (NSW), Blair Connor (Queensland), Quade Cooper (Queensland), Ben Coridas (NSW), Ben Daley (Queensland), Tetera Faulkner (ACT), Will Genia (Queensland), James Hanson (Queensland), Dane Haylett-Petty (WA), Robert Horne (NSW), Seilala Lam (ACT), Richard Kingi (Queensland), Alfi Mafi (NSW), Ben McCalman (NSW), Tom Murday (WA), Ratu Nasiganiyavi (NSW), Daniel Palmer (NSW), David Pocock (WA), Andrew Rossiter (Queensland), Robert Simmons (Queensland), Jeremy Sua (NSW), Ben Tapuai (Queensland), Sam Wykes (NSW)


9. Will Genia
10. Kurtley Beale
11. Alfi Mafi
12. Quade Cooper
13. Rob Horne
14. Peter Betham
15. Dane Haylett-Petty

even without oconnor... how good is that backline for u20's :O

[TOCC]

the 9-10-12 should have close to 50 S14 caps between them, also Genia is injured atm so im not sure how long he will be out for.

[ozhammy]

I agree TOC...It is a different level...O'Connor good but needs much more exposure to the pace of the game