‘Class act’ James O’Connor can inspire Irish return to top

Mick Crossan, leader of the consortium who own London Irish, wants Australian star James O'Connor to be the talisman for a return to the forefront of domestic and European rugby.
With the dust settling on a takeover complicated by the sale of Irish's spiritual Sunbury home and ongoing construction work at a new training centre at Hazelwood, Crossan has made it his mission to restore the club to its former glory when they reached a Heineken Cup semi-final in 2008 and were Premiership runners-up the following year.
Since then the club has been in a desperate fight for Premiership survival while posting annual £1.5m losses.
Crossan, executive chairman of Powerday, Irish's principal sponsor, had seen enough and wants O'Connor to spearhead the Exiles' charge back to the top.
“I wouldn't like to see James O'Connor go,” Crossan said. “I've met him a few times and he's a class act on and off the field. He turned 23 in July and the reports were of this young lad off the rails. He's far from that. My son's 23 and James has done nothing different occasionally to what my son does most weekends.
“After his first game against Northampton, James attended our post-match Q&A and he held the whole crowd. Whether people were seven or 70, he had time for them all.
“This lad's special. Players we sign have to be right for London Irish and James is very much the kind of player and personality we want. It's about building a community and he can be at the forefront.”
As well as providing rugby director Brian Smith with a war-chest aimed at retaining such as O'Connor and Marland Yarde and recruiting other top players, Crossan is desperate to re-engage with thousands of missing fans.
Average gates have dipped from more than 13,000 to fewer than 8,000.
Crossan said: “The management has been a disaster for a long time. People running the club did not understand its ethos.
“We want to be back to challenging for the Premiership and Heineken Cup. But it's also about time spent on the academy and bringing youngsters through, that's where the heartbeat is.
“A lot of people have love and drive for the club but many lost identity with it because of the way it's been run.
“A great emphasis will be put on regaining lost support from inside the M25.”
NEALE HARVEY