Andrew Slack: Aussies polishing their golden boy

James O'Connor is being nurtured and seasoned at fullback by Wallaby management until the best jersey for his prodigious talent becomes apparent. Photo / Getty Images

There's something about James O'Connor doing the haka that wouldn't quite seem natural. He's a Gold Coast boy and he looks one.

Thankfully for the Wallabies, a dad from Rotorua and a mum from Cambridge via South Africa haven't got in the way of him wearing gold, and with the depth of Australian rugby a long way short of that available to Springbok and All Black selectors, it's only fair and just he play for the country of his birth.

Right then, having got his bona fides out of the way, is he any good? Of course he is. Do you think the press and public would be crowing as loudly as they have been recently if he was run of the mill?

He's a darn sight better than run of the mill, although the deluge of media adulation he received on the back of a three-try haul against Italy was a little over the top.

Very over the top actually, but who wants to be a spoilsport, and the number of 18-year-olds who have scored a hat-trick of tries in Test rugby you could count on one hand.

Even if my mother (90 last March and with a gammy leg) would most likely have scored two of those tries, the fact is she wasn't in the position to do so, O'Connor was, and he seized his chance.

Truth is it seems he's been taking any chance he's ever been offered on the footy field. He was apparently a gun under-age player for Te Atatu Roosters rugby league during a five-year stint living in Auckland, and, when he returned to the land of milk and honey, was the star turn for Brisbane's Nudgee College rugby team.

He was all the talk in the schoolboy carnivals but for some reason the Queensland Reds didn't sign him up. Don't get me started on that, but one can only imagine their reasoning was the same as that which dissuaded the NRL to make a big push for him.

Too small. But, as Matt Giteau has proven and O'Connor is proving, too small can be shabby reasoning for overlooking someone.

O'Connor might not win you lineout ball, but he is fast, strong, has a great nose for a gap, awareness of space and supports, is tough, versatile, a good defender and kicks goals. They tell me self-confidence is also not an issue. Sounds a reasonable package to me.

All of this, and he's still not in the starting XV you ask. Fair question, but I think he is being handled by the Wallaby management in just the right way. He is so adept at any position he plays; nobody can be certain what his best spot is.

My guess is that in a decade's time he'll have played most of his rugby in the number 10 or 12 jersey, but at the moment he is being given a feeling for anywhere and everywhere in the backline.

Wherever you end up, fullback is an ideal spot to get some education. It tests you under the most intense pressure but also provides the chance to take a good look at how things unfold in a game of rugby. Take Stephen Larkham as an example of the benefits of some time spent in the last line.

He has engendered a lot of interest among rugby followers in Australia but those in charge of his progress intend to keep the excitement in check. In the long run, that should prove beneficial for both the player himself and for the Wallabies.

* Andrew Slack was the last Wallaby captain to win a test match at Eden Park.