Generally speaking, reactions to Sunday’s announcement of the Wallabies’ Spring Tour squad were that it was about the best that could be assembled, given due consideration to the injury list, overseas movements and unavailability.
There were, of course, a few quibbles here and there; a lot of that down parochial state-lines, and some of it completely lacking in both logic and rationality.
But it wouldn’t be a Wallabies selection without it. It’s much better to have more players unlucky to miss out than lucky to be picked.
The further you went into some discussions though, the more interesting it became, and the inclusion of highly regarded La Rochelle and former Waratahs lock Will Skelton was certainly one of those.
A young Skelton playing in the NRC (Johan Schmidt Photography)
The discussion fell in two broad directions.
There was the common Australian view, that yes, he has performed very well in France and in European competitions, but his past performances for the Wallabies have been nothing to write home about.
‘Uninterested’ was a common description of his showing during last year’s northern tour, where in three appearances off the bench against Scotland, England, and Wales, he looked anything but the European Player of the Year nominee from only a few months prior.
The other, mostly European view was that Skelton is clearly among the best couple of locks in the world, as shown by the aforementioned player of the year nomination, and his near man of the match performance in this year’s Champions Cup final, of which La Rochelle’s triumph over Leinster was Skelton’s third European title.
But further, elements of this view threw in the added cherries on top of Australian fans being idiots if they don’t accept all this as fact, and that Dave Rennie is doomed to failure if he doesn’t pick him. And that’s not an exaggeration of the view, but rather a pretty close paraphrasing.
Of course, like all great nuanced discussions, both views are true – even without the nastiness.
Skelton really hasn’t shown much in his 21 Tests, and it’s been a frustration of Australian rugby pretty well since he was first sighted in a Super Rugby context. His upward form-line never seemed to intersect with the Wallabies’ fixture, and once he was included in last year’s Spring Tour squad, his appearance was one of a player proving you can have your cake and eat it.
Here he was, dominating European competition, seemingly demanding national selection under a revised policy that allowed it, but then offering limited impact off the bench and leaving a feeling of ‘what was all the fuss about’.
But equally, he truly has been one of the best locks in Europe in recent years – and by flow-on, one of the best in the world, given the quality of the French Top 14 and of the Champions Cup competitions. You don’t stand out in comps like that if you’re going through the motions every week.
He was literally and metaphorically enormous in the Champions Cup final in May, playing like a man determined to lead his side away from the disappointment of lost French and European finals the year before, and into what would become the incredible scenes in the port town on the southwestern coast of France.
Skelton’s performance in the celebrations weren’t far behind what he showed on the field in Marseille that day, either. And even this year, he’s been a regular 80-minute player as La Rochelle sit second in the Top 14 standings after seven games.
So it does feel like his latest Wallabies recall is a due reward for performance. But it did last year, too.
There is a bit more at play this season, however. If Skelton can transform his often incredible European form into international domination, then his Rugby World Cup stocks for next year’s tournament in France will only increase.
Fail again though, and he’ll leave the door open for Rory Arnold to take an overseas spot, and will be in danger of consigning himself back to ‘former Wallaby’ status with fewer than 25 Tests to his name.
Rory Arnold. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
But he’ll only have three Tests to do it.
Rennie confirmed on Sunday that Skelton will miss the first Test of the tour against Scotland, and final match against Wales, with both games falling outside the prescribed international windows. Flyhalf Bernard Foley will return to the Kubota Spears in Japan before the Wales Test for the same reason.
So that leaves France in Paris on November 6, Italy in Florence the following week, and Ireland at Lansdowne Road on November 20 as Skelton’s three-week audition.
Certainly, if he can live up to expectations and bring his club form with him, the No.2 ranked France and No.1 ranked Ireland are the best barometers in the international game to do it against. And from a 2022 Wallabies perspective, those three matches could easily shape the likelihood of a winning Spring Tour.
And if he really wants it, Will Skelton can nail down a World Cup place during this window.
A trio of strong personal performances leading to victories will not only boost his European standing, it will also change perceptions about Australia’s chances in France this time next year.
But if Skelton finishes the tour with both points of view as outlined above still firmly intact, then it would have to be seen as yet another missed opportunity, for both him personally and Australian rugby.
Kashmir Pete
Roar Guru
Was part of thought-spray comment I tacked on below my 1 published article few years ago now. Off cuff thought worth read in tote, if do day myself. Cheers KP
cs
Roar Guru
Not in my opinion.
Tez
Roar Rookie
I have no interest in arguing with you .... but your comment regarding Foketi is entirely wrong
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
100%
Colvin Brown
Roar Guru
Will Skelton, born in New Zealand OJ.
Markus
Roar Rookie
Yes lost by 1, but really should have been put to the sword and any team besides Wales likely would have. Skelton was good, definitely took on a lot more responsibility in the pack after Valetini was lost early. Beale's try assist was top notch and demonstrates exactly what he can bring to the Wallabies. Unfortunately, his yellow card for a silly knock down, and him standing there waving his arms at the ref while the Welsh centre ran past him to a score under the posts also showed what Beale can bring.
Khun Phil
Roar Rookie
Peter,everyone keeps mentioning Morahan but, as you mention,he is 32 so a lot of coaches before Rennie have ignored him.Also,I can't recall him being that outstanding when he played in SR to be hailed as a saviour for our back 3.LSL,to me,has not quite lived up to the potential he first showed but I agree that BPA would be a handy addition.
cs
Roar Guru
You call that an argument?
Tez
Roar Rookie
You obviously do not watch games closely nor read reports from far more knowledgeable people
Waxhead
Roar Rookie
@Grobu Stop looking at club/provincial level. Skelton has had many opportunites at Test level over many years and has proved to be a consistent dud. He get's one last chance this Nov to prove me wrong :laughing:
Waxhead
Roar Rookie
@Ad-O If any of that actually applied at Test level Skelton would have been a great success from day 1. Reality is he's been a dud who is easily tackled and has had no significant off loads at Test level. This tour should be his last chance to make an impact imo
soapit
Roar Guru
well there you go. like i said we'll see what happens. hasnt happened to date but hopefully that changes. surprising any club team gets over (basically) the ireland national team
Jacko
Roar Rookie
Great conspiracy theory!
Jacko
Roar Rookie
None of are Miz.. :laughing: . we all have our own reasons for liking certain players I guess.
Brendan NH Fan
Roar Rookie
Rennie at his time at Glasgow he wanted a fast mobile pack that would try and keep rucks to a minimum to recycle the ball. He always struggled against Sarries (with WS) and Leinster use to bully them off the field. Glasgow were generally rubbish at the ruck once with went over 2 seconds and became any kind of a contest. That would lead me to believe that Rennie is still trying to play like he did at club level. McCall and O'Gara have been able to use WS to his best and both believe in players to play. But what both want like most NH coaches is a secure quick ball on attack and a slow ball on defense. from my untrained eye WS is given certain tasks to do on defense and he does it well, he is not part of the defensive line but he knows what his job is. it is similar to the rubbish defender on the rush that is tasked with cutting off the ball out side so they have to go back to go around, it is not the players job to tackle but to stop the ball going wide. Rennie needs to decide what he wants from a lock. If he wants a 1 man ruck hitter that requires the attack to put 2-3 players at every ruck to keep him out leaving 11 or so players in attack pick WS. If he wants a defensive pattern and wants all the defense fanned out against 13 then don't pick WS. He hasn't changed from when he was in Oz other than fitter and is still good at some things and rubbish at others but how he has been asked to play either side of the ball has, the question is can the coach and teammates accommodate that or not.
Val Saunders
Guest
Only some of the comments touch on the coaching side of the Wallabies and the use of imports. Skelton has become an 80 minute starting player in Top 14 so last year when he was chosen the coaching team used him off the bench for 15 - 20 minutes. Arnold is probably the best line out lock in France so we call him as jumper once in the first test he played this year. Rennie needs to be more positive here and think about starting Skelton and Arnold together as I would suggest that any opposition would prefer to play against our current mix, say Neville and Philips than those two. The challenge is the team has to be set up to maximise the skills of the two. There is nothing to lose as Rennie's win record is below 40% anyway!! Remember the saying 'if you keep doing the same thing the result remains the same as well'.
Ehhh
Roar Rookie
The Leinster 23 from that final was: 1. Porter 2. Kelleher 3. Furlong 4. Moloney 5. Ryan 6. Doris 7. Van der Flier 8. Conan 9. Gibson-Park 10. Sexton 11. Lowe 12. Henshaw 13. Ringrose 14. O’Brien 15. Keenan 16 Sheehan 17 Healy 18 Ala’alatoa 19 McCarthy 20 Ruddock 21 McGrath 22 Byrne 23 Frawley. The only players who weren’t Ireland internationals at the time were Ala’alatoa (who’s a Samoan international), O’Brien, Frawley and McCarthy (who all toured NZ in the summer) and Moloney (who won a Grand Slam at U20s)
mzilikazi
Roar Pro
"Nick Bishop is the only one I ever see promoting Skelton as some genius player." I do too...I'm not as important as Nic Bishop though :happy:
savant
Roar Rookie
Amen. QC, Rennies biggest selection success was pure accident. QC came to him. Without QC we wouldn’t have won 4 straight last year and Rennies win ratio would be below 30 percent and his position probably untenable.
savant
Roar Rookie
There is no question there is disquiet at the Reds. The board have leaned on the CEO to do something about it and Heenan has been brought in as assistant coach. He is not replacing the departed defence coach. It’s pretty clear he has been brought in to help manage relationships with players better (and use his game day planning skills which have been evident in many UQ club premierships). They are trying to head off a crisis.