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Why Wallaby Will Skelton is ‘one of the best locks in the world’
The Wallabies may be struggling at the moment, but that hasn’t stopped a former Australian international from heaping praise upon towering lock Will Skelton.
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Former Wallaby Stephen Hoiles believes Skelton is “one of the best locks in the world” after a couple of impressive performances to start the Wallabies’ 2023 international campaign.
Skelton appears to have finally found his feet within the Australian setup.
The La Rochelle lock has been one of the standouts in Europe for several years, and that form has finally carried over into the Test arena.
Skelton was able to, at times, dominate both the Springboks and Los Pumas’ forward packs with some hard-hitting tackles, strong carries, and exceptional work at the set piece.
“Just his dominance at maul time,” Hoiles said on Stan Sport’s Between Two Posts.
“And even looking at home, he looks better now than he looked two weeks ago. It helps when you’ve got someone like that in the second row.
“We always talk front row and scrum pressure, but the fact you’ve got him sitting behind a tighthead prop – that makes an enormous difference.
“He’s close to one of the best locks in the world but I can’t see a better maul attacker or defender in world rugby.
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“I think we’ve got a good season in him. I’ve got a really good amount of confidence, going back to France, where he’s played most of his rugby.
“We’re going to get a good year out of him.”
The Wallabies are 0-2 under new coach Eddie Jones though, and they have just three matches to play before their opening Rugby World Cup fixture.
Australia will host rivals New Zealand in Melbourne later this month, before making the trek across the ditch to take on the All Blacks in Dunedin.
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Then, after naming their World Cup squad, the men in gold will travel to Europe – and take on World Cup hosts France in Paris. Winning any of those three Tests will be a game-changer for the Wallabies.
Skelton will likely play a key role for the Wallabies moving forward. Standing at 203cm and weighing 135kg, the Australian enforcer is simply too big and good to ignore.
Comments on RugbyPass
The Black Ferns 7’s have been without Captain Sarah Hirini now since Dec 23 in Dubai where she suffered a bad ACL injury - hopefully she is on the road to recovery for Madrid and Paris. Now also have Tyler King and Shiray kaka on the Injured List but the Team still found a way to win in Singapore and claim the overall Title.
1 Go to commentsUtter grub, hope he gets his leg broken. Shocking he is still playing after intentionally breaking quinn tupaeas knee
2 Go to commentsGreat to see NZ 7s teams finally coming into form and playing at the level that is expected of them.
2 Go to commentsChief Cheapshot on the market again.
2 Go to commentsCrusaders went all in to buy Hotham and Kemara staight from Hamilton Boys. Then they picked up Reihana and Hohepa; all have been dropped for superstar Havili, who is a very good fullback, that’s it. Ennor and Goodhue were schoolboy stars too but went backwards at the Crusaders. Maybe they have finally decided to give another poach Levi Aumua the ball?
10 Go to commentsJoe S has some talent to pick from. The Reds loosies look the best in Super? Aus might just give Razor a headache this year. Int. experience v Cantab greenhorn:) Should be fun.
10 Go to commentsEnd to end play, “THE FANS” this game was entertainment of the best. The conditions added to the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsSorry to say, but sadly the sadas were just ordinary and havilli at 10 as an abs selection just won’t cut it. He’s better suited in the centre’s and is a victim of past charge down kicks, he’s too slow under pressure. There’s better talent further north and I don’t mean dmac however I believe razor will sort him out. A feature of his presents on the park is the fact that the guys will follow him.
10 Go to commentsMarler was brilliant throughout both in the scrum and open play. His slap made virtually no contact with Ramos who milked it for a penalty when he could have been a decent sportsman and laughed it off, it was non-violent and shouldn't have been penalised. Smith failed repeatedly to kick when necessary and put up a couple of bombs into the TLS 22 that just handed back possession at key moments to the other side.
3 Go to commentsCros was outstanding and rightly awarded France TVs player of the match award. Mallia was brilliant as usual (the y is below the 6 on a UK keyboard and he deserves better than that). Level also seems to have been scored harshly as he walked the ball into touch under pressure from a Lynagh kick from well outside his own half which should never have led to a 50-22. Agree with BullShark that Dupont, while class at times, seemed to go missing for patches in the second half with props, hookers and wings frequently filling in at 9 as he couldn't get off the deck and up to the next ruck on time. A 7 by his standards at best, his kicking was also too long, too often. Kinghorn's overall contribution was worth well more than a five.
3 Go to commentsThe Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
3 Go to commentsHow on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
3 Go to commentsAmazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
3 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
2 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
3 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
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