Less than 24 hours after he played at flyhalf in Australia's 41-16 loss to the British and Irish Lions in last Saturday's third and deciding Test, he was told by the Melbourne Rebels that they don't want him back next season.
That left the 23-year-old O'Connor with just one Super Rugby match remaining for the Rebels against the Otago-based Highlanders on Friday. And now he has been dropped to the bench.
Complicating O'Connor's on-field injuries and inconsistent form has been several disciplinary breaches - including being photographed at a fast-food outlet at 04:00 three days before the second Test, and reports that he missed Australia's team bus to training the day before the deciding match against the Lions.
Teams:
Rebels:
15 Angus Roberts, 14 Jason Woodward, 13 Tom English, 12 Rory Sidey, 11
Cooper Vuna, 10 Bryce Hegarty, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Gareth Delve (captain), 7
Scott Fuglistaller, 6 Jarrod Saffy, 5 Cadeyrn Neville, 4 Hugh Pyle, 3
Laurie Weeks, 2 Ged Robinson, 1 Nic Henderson.
Substitutes: 16 Shota Horie, 17 Paul Alo-Emile, 18 Luke Jones, 19 Jordy Reid, 20 Nic Stirzaker, 21 James O'Connor, 22 Kimami Sitauti.
Highlanders:
TBA