Wallabies 'grub' ready for next battle with Springboks

Giant Will Skelton is relishing his role as “that grub”, with the Wallabies ready to follow him into battle against South Africa in their opening Rugby Championship clash.

Skelton turned Wallabies enforcer against the British and Irish Lions, unsettling the tourists with some huge hits and niggle – all while wearing a big smile.

The Australians will look to Skelton to provide that same punch against the world champions on Sunday (0100 AEDT) at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park, which has its own intimidation factor.

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The Wallabies haven’t won at “the cauldron” since 1963, while their last win in South Africa was in 2011 in Durban.

Fellow Wallabies forward Tom Hooper said that Skelton, playing in the Rugby Championship for the first time in two years, was up for task of taking on the game’s best forward pack.

“I think he’d definitely be up for that challenge and anyone who’s picked in the jerseys alongside him will follow him into battle, that’s for sure,” Hooper said from South Africa.

“It’s great, he’s an enforcer and that’s what he’s been doing for a long time now in the beautiful sport of rugby.

“For want of a better word, he loves being that grub.

“He loves taking it to teams physically and making the gentlemen’s game a little bit more exciting so, yeah, we love playing with him as he’s just a physical presence.”

Veteran halfback Nic White, whose retirement was put on hold due to injury in the position, said after the third Test 22-12 win over the Lions that the Wallabies didn’t want to take a backward step.

Despite his diminutive size, White was also a major thorn in the side of the Lions.

Flanker-cum-lock Hooper said the Wallabies wanted to continue with that mindset at Ellis Park.

“You’ve got the Great Dane in Will Skelton, and then you’ve got the little Jack Russell (in White) and Jack Russell’s sometimes a little bit more fiery and he’s nipping at the heels of those boys,” Hooper said.

“He (White) loves not taking a backwards step and whoever’s picked in that gold jersey, that’s the kind of spirit that we want to play with going forward because you can see it kind of inspires the 23 on the field.

“We can’t take a backwards step because we can’t afford to.”

Named man of the match in that Sydney Test, Hooper’s days in the Wallabies jersey may be interrupted as the Bathurst product is signed to play with UK club Exeter.

The 24-year-old is hoping to return to earn selection for the 2027 Rugby World Cup after being a part of Australia’s disappointing campaign under Eddie Jones in 2023.

Hooper said he had no regrets about his decision to leave the Brumbies and play overseas.

“I think the decision I made at the time was a really good decision and I still stand by that because I’m going to go over there and improve as a player,” he said.

“Right now my feet are in South Africa and I’ve got a job to do here.

“I don’t have a crystal ball, unfortunately, I don’t know what’s going to happen in my future, but I’ll just keep making decisions based on being a good rugby player and hopefully playing in that gold jersey because I absolutely love it.”