Will Skelton embraces Wallabies’ underdog tag ahead of Lions opener

Will Skelton and the Wallabies are embracing the underdog tag ahead of their three-Test series against the highly-favoured British & Irish Lions, which gets underway this weekend at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.

On an episode of For the Love of Rugby last September, former England scrum-half Ben Youngs infamously called for the Lions to tour South Africa instead of Australia, considering the Wallabies had just been thrashed by Los Pumas 67-27.

While the Wallabies went on to shock England 42-37 at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium before also beating Wales at the Principality, there’s little doubt as to who carries the favourites tag into the highly anticipated series.

Le Roux reflects on 100th Test cap

Le Roux reflects on 100th Test cap

The Lions have been clinical during their tour of Australia, recording some confidence-building wins over the Western Force, Queensland Reds, NSW Waratahs, ACT Brumbies, and most recently the AUNZ Invitational XV in Adelaide.

Young Lions backrower Henry Pollock recently said a 3-nil series sweep “is definitely on the table” for the tourists, but the Wallabies aren’t listening to any outside noise, instead doing whatever they can to focus on and prepare for the first Test.

“I love it. We love it,” Skelton told reporters in Brisbane.

“Like [Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii] said, we’re worried solely on ourselves.

“The Lions have played some great footy and we want to showcase what we can do on Saturday.

“Series win? We’re worried about this game, this game at Suncorp,” he added soon after.

“We’ve put everything into our preparation to make sure we’re at our best on Saturday and that’s what I’m excited about.”

When the Wallabies secured a last-gasp 21-18 win over the Flying Fijians in Newcastle just over one week ago, Skelton wasn’t on the field. After a big season in the Top 14 and Europe with La Rochelle, Skelton ended up missing that Test-season opener with a calf injury.

Two-time defending John Eales Medallist Rob Valetini was also ruled out the match, but Skelton didn’t give too much away when asked about whether the backrower would be available to take on the Lions this Saturday.

But all signs seem to be pointing towards Skelton’s return to the Test arena, with the towering second-rower revealing he had trained with the Wallabies over the weekend and it now “raring to go” for the series opener.

“I tweaked the calf. It felt a bit tight leading into that Fiji game so we didn’t want to take any risks,” Skelton said.

“Anytime you can put your hand up to play for the Wallabies, it’s up to Joe [Schmidt] and the higher ups to pick you,” he added.

“I’ll do everything I can to prepare myself to be ready and put my hand up there. I’ll let Joe pick, do the hard decisions, and pick the team that he feels will do the best job on Saturday.”