CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
Australians as a whole are today unsure if they really want to dedicate too much energy towards thinking about the newest drama that former Wallaby James O’Connor has embroiled himself in.
The 26-year-old’s career has been marred by off-field incidents, including when he was granted an early release from his Australian Rugby Union contract in 2013 because of the toxic culture that surrounds each club he signs with, or when he was carrying on like an dickhead with his missus on a commercial flight and got kicked off, or when he publicly referred to himself as a ‘brand’ instead of a player.
However, the latest shitfight saw O’Connor, who plays for French club Toulon, and New Zealand rugby union international Ali Williams both arrested on Saturday morning (local time) near a nightclub in the 16th district of Paris.
They were allegedly trying to buy a bag of cocaine each. O’Connor and Williams were both drunk at the time of their arrest and were not carrying identification.
It seems even the remaining Australian rugby union fans aren’t even pretending that they are concerned about this incident, as it the kind of behaviour that has to come to be expected from O’Connor and it’s also not even really a big deal.
One private school dad and Sydney-based stockbroker, Edward Ashley-Horwill (40) says anyone who gets the special FoxSports package on their Foxtel to watch Super Rugby would be familiar with a bag of coke.e
“I don’t want to go too far into it, but I did live pretty hard early last decade”
“You are going to tell me that fans of rugby union, who are mostly affluent white collar men, don’t know how good cocaine is?”
“And furthermore, you are going to tell me that a 26-year-old making six figures playing provincial rugby in Paris should be expected to not be doing cocaine?”
“Give me a fucking break”
Williams’s French club Racing 92 released a statement saying the 77-Test All Black had been suspended over the incident – but that doesn’t matter too much because he’s essentially in the back-end of his career.
O’Connor, who has played 44 Tests for the Wallabies as a utility back, moved to Toulon in the 2015/16 French Top 14 season after being released from a lucrative two-year contract with Queensland Reds because he can’t seem to get along with anyone.
He had previously played for Toulon prior to joining the Reds at the beginning of 2015 when he was pushing for selection in the Wallabies’ World Cup squad but who knows how badly he has fucked himself this time. There’s a big chance he won’t face any repercussions though.
