Queensland Reds suffer James O'Connor blow

Queensland Reds will miss the services of Wallabies fly-half James O'Connor at the start of the upcoming season of Super Rugby Pacific following a hamstring injury.

The 33-year-old sustained the blow during the pre-season and is set to be sidelined for three to four weeks according to head coach Les Kiss.

“He’s three weeks away, maybe four,” Kiss said on Monday.

“You don’t like losing people like James. He was flying, he was going extremely well, but I’ve said it from day one, we’ve got four good options (at fly-half) and all the other options are playing well.”

The absence of O'Connor will see Kiss left with Tom Lynagh, Lawson Creighton and Harry McLaughlin-Phillips as the options of the number 10 jersey.

“All the 10s that are there … they don’t get flustered too easily,” Kiss added.

“It’s a competitive position, like other positions are as well. It’s a nice situation to have.

“The whole squad’s got competitive, right across the positions. That’s what I love about the team at the moment.”

Reds will kick-start their Super Rugby Pacific campaign with a clash against Waratahs at Suncorp Stadium on 24th February.