Crusaders v Chiefs: James O’Connor confirms Super Rugby Pacific final will be last match for Crusaders

James O’Connor is aiming to bow out of the Crusaders as a Super Rugby Pacific champion, after confirming Saturday’s final against the Chiefs is his last for the Christchurch franchise.

The former Wallabies utility has played a key role for the Crusaders’ resurgence this season, playing in 15 of their matches, primarily off the bench, where he’s been tasked with closing out matches.

One of his highlights was kicking the game-winning penalty goal to claim a 25-22 round 10 win over the Blues.

Surprisingly, this will be O’Connor’s first Super Rugby final, having made his debut back in 2008 with the Western Force, while he has also featured for the now defunct Melbourne Rebels and the Queensland Reds.

He also had previous stints in England and France.

The 34-year-old said the plan was always to stick around for one campaign. There had been talks to extend for another season, but he didn’t want to stand in the way of Rivez Reihana and Taha Kemara.

While O’Connor can’t say what’s next, he’s been widely linked with a move to the Leicester Tigers in the English Premiership.

“It’ll be my last game for the Crusaders,” said O’Connor.

“It’s been an awesome journey. It’s time for the old fella to move on. We’ll see what’s next. I’m loving my footy and feel in a good place physically and mentally, so I just want to keep playing at the top level.”

O’Connor is Australian born, but did spend some of his youth in Auckland, with his parents hailing from New Zealand.

Having turned down a deal to stay with the Reds, he was on holiday in New Zealand when he got a call from Crusaders coach Rob Penney.

It didn’t take much convincing for him to put pen to paper.

O’Connor has only started one game, a loss to Moana Pasifika, and he admits it took time to adjust to being the impact player.

“You always want to be the starting guy, but after preseason, feeling the pace of our game, it started to make sense,” said O’Connor.

“After playing a few games, I got a feel for it, how we play, where I could add the most value, and that turned out to be off the bench.

“Coming on in the last 10, 20, sometimes 30 minutes, putting the ball in front of the forwards and giving the team what’s needed, it’s been beautiful.”

O’Connor has signalled to the GBRANZ Podcast his intention is to push to play for the Wallabies again, in next month’s British and Irish Lions tour.

The Crusaders and Chiefs will name their teams at 4pm on Wednesday afternoon.

Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.

For live commentary of Super Rugby Pacific matches featuring New Zealand teams, go to GOLD SPORT or iHeartRadio.