EXCLUSIVE: Will Skelton will not be going to the Rugby World Cup
Wallaby lock Will Skelton has ended speculation about his future by signing a new two-year deal with Saracens that rules him out of the World Cup in Japan unless Australian rugby chiefs relax their current stance.
Skelton joined Saracens in April 2017, on a two-year contract with the lock having previously played for the club on a short term deal before heading back to the Waratahs in Sydney for the Super Rugby season.
The 6ft 8in lock made a positive impression on everyone at the club, although they realised he needed to lose weight. Since his return, Skelton has transformed his shape, shedding two stone and becoming a major force for the defending Premiership champions who face Glasgow Warriors in a Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final at Allianz Park today.
RugbyPass understands the new contract has already been signed, with Skelton satisfying the club’s demands that if he stayed, international duty was out of the question as he is needed to fill the second row gaps created by England call-ups for Maro Itoje, George Kruis and Nick Isiekwe.
The 26-year-old has won 18 Test caps for the Wallabies and acknowledged when he arrived in 2017 that his test career was on hold saying; “One day I’d love to play for Australia again and if that opportunity comes up I will give everything I’ve got for my country.”
Having made his decision to stay, Skelton is unavailable for the World Cup as the Australian Rugby Union will only pick overseas players if they have 60 caps. However, former Wallaby captain James Horwill wants Australian rugby chiefs to use “creative thinking” to get the giant Saracens lock to Japan. The Gallagher Premiership season will not start until October 20 because of the World Cup which means Saracens could agree to release him for test duty if the ARU change their rules.
Horwill got first-hand experience of how well 6ft 8ins Skelton is playing as his fellow countryman grabbed two tries in a Man-of-the-Match performance in the win over Harlequins at the London Stadium. With the Wallabies currently struggling for form and head coach Michael Cheika under fire, bringing back Australia’s biggest forward could be a timely boost ahead of the World Cup.
Horwill, who has a European Challenge Cup last eight clash with Worcester, wants that to happen and said: “The ARU need to look at a few new options and you would like to see Will at the World Cup because he is playing so well and deserves to be involved. Each individual case is different and careers are getting shorter with guys retiring due to injury so you are probably seeing a thought process which is ‘I don’t want to miss out on an opportunity to make a lot of money because it is a finite career’ and so some guys will see it as a way of setting themselves up financially for the rest of their life.
“You cannot criticise players for thinking that way and so you do need to have some more creative thinking around Australia contracting and retaining players. In New Zealand they having more playing depth and are able to deal with it a lot better because each season there are players coming through who you have never heard of before. Suddenly those guys are tearing it up in Super Rugby and so New Zealand have more of a luxury while we in Australia are competing with other sports like AFL and rugby league. Therefore you have to be more creative in rugby union.
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“Will’s conditioning has always been questioned and he was always a big lump who could do a lot of things when he first came onto the scene. He is still tipping the scales at around 135-140 kgs and that says something about how big he was and Saracens have been able to get the best out of him. He doesn’t have to exude too much energy elsewhere on the park and they use his strengths and we saw on Saturday what he can do when he consistently performs.
“He is playing a lot of rugby for Saracens in all competitions and has been a key part of their success.
“Four years ago the ARU created a bit of leeway with the Giteau Rule for the last World Cup to allow players to be included and you want to play your best players at the tournament because it means so much. It is tough for Australia because they want to show loyalty to the guys at home and don’t want to open the floodgates because the financial restrictions the ARU have are quite well publicised. They are struggling with the financial offers over here in Europe.”
In other news: Premiership club after Cheika
Comments on RugbyPass
In the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getitng to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
5 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
6 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
5 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
6 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
54 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
54 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
6 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
54 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
54 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
54 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
18 Go to comments