The opportunity to take advantage of a wounded All Blacks and make history at Eden Park next week appears to have swayed Joe Schmidt into making a late U-turn and selecting veteran playmaker James O’Connor for the Bledisloe Cup series. The decision not only gives O’Connor the chance to play in his first Bledisloe Cup fixture in five years, but it will boost his frequent flyers’ points balance, given the 35-year-old learned of the news in England, having flown to London on Monday to join his new club, Leicester. Keen to continue his late-career Wallabies revival, O’Connor said he was willing to fly back if selected, and after less than 72 hours in the UK, he will travel from Heathrow to Sydney, and then onto Auckland with the Wallabies squad on Sunday. As forecast, Will Skelton will not feature in the opening trans-Tasman clash at Eden Park next week, and the big second-rower also remains doubtful to play in the second clash in Perth after not being named in the squad at all.