Wallabies issue O’Connor update, suffer major Skelton blow

Leicester Tigers fly-half James O’Connor has joined the Wallabies in Dublin ahead of this weekend’s Quilter Nations Series clash with Ireland, but it’s not all good news for the Australians, who will be without Will Skelton for the rest of the tour.

O’Connor featured in all six Rugby Championship matches, including back-to-back 80-minute performances away to the Springboks and a start against the All Blacks at Eden Park, before debuting for Leicester in their round three loss to Northampton Saints.

Along with the Exeter Chiefs duo of Len Ikitau and Tom Hooper, O’Connor missed the Wallabies’ Spring Tour matches against Japan and England, as those Tests fell outside of World Rugby’s three-week international window.

Ikitau and Hooper were recalled into the squad before Saturday’s seven-point defeat to Italy in Udine, although there was no word on O’Connor. The Wallabies have issued another squad update ahead of the final two matches of the year, confirming O’Connor is back with the group.

“James O’Connor has joined the squad in Dublin to help the team prepare for the Test against Ireland on Saturday,” the update reads.

The Wallabies have revealed that Skelton will miss the Tests against Ireland and France after sustaining an ankle injury while playing for La Rochelle. Skelton started alongside Thomas Lavault in the second row, playing 60 minutes in the 39-14 defeat to Toulon.

After missing the first Test against the British & Irish Lions, Skelton’s physical presence was a difference-maker in the other two matches against the touring side. With the 33-year-old out, Jeremy Williams and Nick Frost are among the options to start against the Irish.

Western Force lock Darcy Swain has also returned to Australia after joining the squad as cover ahead of the clash with England at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium, after Josh Canham and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto were injured against Japan seven days earlier.

Australia have lost five of their last six Tests, with their sole win in that period coming against Japan in Tokyo. Their last outing was a 26-19 loss to Italy, with Louis Lynagh and Monty Ioane scoring pivotal tries midway through the second term.

“Any loss is disappointing and we’ve accumulated a few now. Where do we go from here? I think we have to demonstrate some character and also some cohesion,” coach Joe Schmidt said after the Italy defeat.

“Carter [Gordon] was good today but he’s new in and I felt like we lacked a bit of cohesion in the first half and then in the second half we kind of overplayed because we fell behind.

“We’ve got to build that cohesion and we’ve got to demonstrate that real fight that we’ve demonstrated earlier in the season. I know it’s still there.

“We’ve had 13 Test matches, we’ve got two left. They’re two incredibly important Test matches against two big teams, both ranked in that top four in the world so we’ve got to go after those.”