MELBOURNE, March 27 (Reuters) - Being relieved of Wallabies duties in November was a tough blow for James O'Connor but the veteran flyhalf is not giving up on his test career yet with a home Rugby World Cup on the horizon.
O'Connor was recalled for a one-off match against Ireland during the Wallabies' Northern Hemisphere tour, then went straight back to his English club Leicester Tigers when Carter Gordon was fit to play France.
While coach Joe Schmidt never planned for him to remain with the squad, O'Connor still found it difficult to tear himself away.
"I’m not going to lie, it does hurt, but I've been in and out of teams through my whole career," he said in comments published by the Sydney Morning Herald on Friday.
"I’ve been to the top of the mountain and then dropped. It’s not the first time it's happened to me.
"Not that it gets easier, but you’ve got to understand nothing is personal, number one.
"Number two, I know where I’m at in my career, I know my worth and I know what I can do on the rugby field."
O'Connor, who turns 36 in July, made a surprise return to test rugby last year and helped the Wallabies pull off their first win over South Africa at Ellis Park in over 60 years.
Flyhalf has been a problem position for the Wallabies, with no one nailing down the number 10 shirt following Noah Lolesio's season-ending injury last year.
While Gordon has been in good form for Les Kiss's Queensland Reds recently, Tane Edmed has struggled at the ACT Brumbies in Super Rugby Pacific.
O'Connor still has plenty of backers in Australian rugby a year and a half out from the World Cup, though given his age he may be best deployed as an impact player off the bench rather than taking the leading role.
He said he had a good relationship with Schmidt and his successor Kiss, who he played under at the Reds, and they knew what he could do on the field.
"Then it's just about the opportunity coming up," he said.
"The best thing I can do is keep performing well and keep getting some game-time and building my game."
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
