O'Connor, who will now be at the club until the end of next season, agreed a new deal even though Wasps are yet to find a replacement for departing director of rugby Warren Gatland.

O'Connor broke into the Ireland squad for the first time this season on the back of his magnificent Zurich Premiership form and the 23-year-old believes Wasps have played a crucial role in his development.

He said: ''The set-up at the club is fantastic, and the challenges of training and playing with this group of people, which has helped my game so much since I joined, will undoubtedly continue to do so next season.

I'm very happy to be at Wasps next season. Playing at Wasps is a great privilege.''
O'Connor won his first cap against South Africa in the autumn and has featured in three of Ireland's RBS 6 Nations games this season.

Wasps assistant coach Shaun Edwards is delighted the club have managed to secure O'Connor for another year and further strengthen their options at openside flanker.

Edwards said: Obviously we are very pleased. We have got two very good sevens in Johnny and Tom Rees.

''Whilst Johnny's status in the game has escalated and is going through the roof at international level and he is now a possible starter for the British & Irish Lions, by no means is his position safe at Wasps because Rees is putting the pressure on.''