WAS IT A coincidence that Will Skelton had been introduced off the bench by the time the Wallabies scored their only try in a narrow defeat to Ireland in Dublin last autumn?
The answer has to be a firm ‘no’ when you look back at the first carry of the passage that led to Jordan Petaia’s score.
There’s Skelton being used as the strike runner off a right-hand-side lineout. It’s not a role commonly filled by second rows, but Skelton isn’t like other second rows.
As we can see, Skelton skittles four Irish defenders before he’s hauled to ground by James Ryan. This first-phase impact leaves Ireland chasing to recover in defence and they never truly catch up.
Two phases later, Skelton gets another touch of the ball, this time showing his handling skill as he tips on a short pass.
Petaia dots down 30 seconds later.
We witnessed a similar impact from Skelton two weekends before when he was sprung from the bench against France in a game the Wallabies also lost on a slim margin.
Having been sent on only seconds before, Skelton’s determined maul defence put France under severe pressure.
Watch below how Skelton fights through the maul to target the ball, forcing France into a panicked reaction.
The Wallabies win a penalty off the back of this maul, kick to touch down the left, and score in the next passage.
Skelton is involved in the attacking maul and then makes a solid carry, but his key involvement is the clever tip-in pass to Taniela Tupou that we see below.
Having worked around the corner, Skelton intelligently draws in Charles Ollivon before slipping the ultra-dynamic Tupou into a sliver of space.
France threaten to turn Tupou over, but Skelton gets off the ground and follows up strongly to clear Grégory Alldritt away.
The Wallabies score on the next phase to take the lead.
A few minutes later, they’re able to extend their advantage and again Skelton is prominent in creating the penalty opportunity.
This carry gets the Wallabies trundling into the French half.
Two phases later, Skelton gets back on the ball to show his power once again. France go off their feet competing at the ensuing breakdown to give up the penalty.
These clips give us a sense of the damage Skelton’s 6ft 8ins and 140kg frame can cause in attack. But he’s about more than physicality. He can pass, offload, and make good decisions. The power and the skill are a heady blend given that defenders have so much to worry about.
Ask Leinster fans and they’ll tell you more about it. The 31-year-old has caused the Irish province great pain in the Champions Cup for years now, with both Saracens and current club La Rochelle.
Skelton has justifiably been dubbed as Leinster’s kryptonite.
The Wallabies have yet to truly unleash Skelton’s quality on the Test stage. The man himself has admitted his culpability in this. He acknowledges that he hasn’t consistently taken his chances over the course of his 24 Test caps, dating back to a debut in 2014.
He was injured in the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup and then dropped out of the Wallabies picture when he moved to Europe in 2017. But as his star has soared in recent years, he has become impossible to ignore.
New boss Eddie Jones appears determined to make the totemic lock a central part of his plans. It would be a smart and obvious move from Jones to have Skelton at the heart of everything.
The Wallabies head coach has repeatedly mentioned his excitement over the Australian squad’s athleticism and power in recent months. Skelton is chief among the reasons to be getting worked up and dreaming about World Cup glory. Jones rates him as “probably the best right-hand-side lock in the world.”
Skelton is not just a weapon with ball in hand. He can plough breakdowns with almighty force. He is a destructive defender who with a range of technical abilities. He can choke tackle, make turnover hits on ball-carriers’ upper bodies, drop them with powerful shots to the legs, and even occasionally chop tackle despite his height. Furthermore, Skelton is capable of winning jackal turnovers at the breakdown.
In the scrum, his sheer size and power make him a menace. Skelton’s relationship with prop Uini Atonio on the tighthead [right-hand] side of the La Rochelle scrum has been important for Ronan O’Gara’s side.
As we saw earlier, Skelton is often used in the backline attack from lineouts but he is obviously a key man in attacking mauls given his bulk and, again, his technical proficiency. That applies on both sides of the ball.
It’s not difficult to appreciate how hard Skelton is to lift in the lineout. He’s a good lifter himself, but he isn’t often used as a jumper. Indeed, he only claimed 20 lineouts over the course of the entire 2022/23 season with La Rochelle, in which he played 24 times, according to Opta.
But forwards coach Donnacha Ryan used him cleverly in last season’s Champions Cup final against Leinster, who essentially ignored Skelton as a lineout option. Whenever Skelton set up at the front of the lineout, Leinster opted against matching him with a jumper of their own.
Skelton had five easy wins of the ball in that position and on the fifth occasion, La Rochelle scored their game-clinching try from this source.
That isn’t to say that Skelton’s relative weakness as a lineout jumper is a great thing. It was smart play from La Rochelle to take advantage of Leinster repeatedly giving them this option.
Skelton starts in the second row for the Wallabies against South Africa this Saturday, forming a complementary pairing with the quicker, leaner, springier Nick Frost, and Jones has also picked debutant Tom Hooper – who has played lots of rugby in the second row and jumps well in the lineout – at blindside flanker.
Jones is right to find a way to make his pack work with a heavyweight lock like Skelton starting because of the huge pay-off. He has been one of the best players in the world in recent years and now it’s time for Australia to harness his ability in Test rugby.
Australia previously operated under the so-called ‘Giteau’s Law,’ meaning the Wallabies could only pick a maximum of three players based outside of Australia and who had 30 or more Test caps, but Jones has been pushing for that to be relaxed even further since taking over.
This weekend, he has included Quade Cooper, Marika Koroibete, Samu Kerevi, Skelton, and Richie Arnold – all of whom play outside Australia – in his matchday 23. Rugby Australia are right to relax the rule, especially if it means Skelton is involved.
The big lock has become fitter than ever in La Rochelle, as evidenced once again by going the full 80 minutes in the Champions Cup final, as well as doing the same in the Top 14 final. Skelton is relentless these days.
And the thing that is rarely mentioned about Skelton amidst the focus on his physical size and technical skill is the fact that he has a winner’s mentality. He expects success. There are many parts in every puzzle, of course, but it’s not a shock that the teams Skelton plays for win trophies.
He was part of the Waratahs side that won Super Rugby in 2014, the last Australian win in that competition. When the Wallabies claimed the three-round Rugby Championship in 2015, Skelton played in all three games.
Saracens won two Champions Cup titles and two Premierships while Skelton was there. He was pivotal in La Rochelle winning the club’s first-ever trophy in the 2022 Champions Cup and then backing it up this season.
Now, as Jones’ Wallabies look towards the World Cup as exciting dark horses, Skelton must be central to their title tilt.
