Captain one minute, a distant pipedream the next. As Joe Schmidt talked up his second-row options, the Wallabies’ hopes of adding some heavy artillery to their squad for the remainder of The Rugby Championship is unlikely, with Will Skelton set to remain in France.
Skelton, 32, returned for the entire TRC last year and was a surprise pick by Eddie Jones to captain the Wallabies during last year’s ill-fated World Cup campaign in France.
But the 145kg giant, who missed most of the Wallabies’ World Cup campaign because of a calf injury, is set to stay in La Rochelle ahead of the start of the French TOP14 early next month.
Although Schmidt had been hopeful that Skelton would feature at some point during the six-match tournament, it’s understood the Wallabies coach is resigned to the fact he won’t.
If Skelton desperately wanted to feature for the Wallabies, he could.
But a combination of factors, including logistical and financial challenges, as well as a cooling to return given the Wallabies are up against it, means the world-class lock will stay in France for now.
“I continue to have conversations with Will, but it is complicated to get someone like Will back out of the Top 14 lead-in, which is currently underway,” Schmidt said.
“They’re in pre-season training.
“And at the same time, I felt Lukhan [Salakaia-Loto] played well tonight, Nick Frost is coming back in after a good game, and Angus Blyth, gee I thought he fought really hard in that first half.
“So there are guys there that are working really hard and are incredibly keen to wear the jersey. I know Will is as well, he’s really proud of being a Wallaby.
“In the context of Marika [Koroibete], it was great to have him back and I felt he added a bit of an edge and experience.”
Will Skelton is set to remain in La Rochelle ahead of the return of the French TOP 14 next month. (Photo By Harry Murphy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
The absence of Skelton, as well as fellow foreign based locks like Richie and Rory Arnold, have left the Wallabies exposed up front, particularly at the set-piece.
Although the Wallabies came away with victories over Wales and Georgia in July, their set-piece issues, particularly at the rolling-maul, were once again exposed by the Springboks during their second straight heavy loss.
Indeed, Springboks replacement hooker Malcolm Marx grabbed a second-half double after getting on the end of rolling mauls. The World Cup winner’s second try came after the Wallabies lost the majority of their front-row options, including Angus Bell and James Slipper.
More pain would have been in store had rising hooker Johan Grobbelaar, who was one of ten changes to the starting side by Rassie Erasmus, not struggled in the wet.
Skelton and the Arnold twins are some of the best defenders in the world at the maul, with the La Rochelle lock showing his worth during his one appearance at the World Cup as he single-handedly destroyed Georgia’s maul at the Stade de France.
Lukhan Salakaia-Loto was one of the Wallabies’ best but Joe Schmidt’s side continue to struggle at the rolling maul. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
In better news, Schmidt confirmed the Wallabies would at least be able to call on Frost and Jeremy Williams, who both missed the 30-12 loss because of head knocks sustained during their first-up 33-7 defeat in Brisbane.
Taniela Tupou, who missed the opening two clashes of the tournament because of his father’s death, should also be in the picture to return.
But flankers Liam Wright and Fraser McReight will be racing the clock to return after picking up injuries during the July Tests.
The prognosis of Hunter Paisami remains to be seen too, with the inside-centre forced off after 47 minutes with a leg complaint.
“Nick Frost and Jeremy Williams are both back from injury, they’re both available which is great,” Schmidt said.
“Nick Frost, certainly the games I’ve watched and the games I’ve coached against him, that was certainly his best game for the Wallabies last week [in Brisbane], I thought he was outstanding.
“He’s a big, athletic man, very good in the lineout, and probably the most physical I’ve seen him play.
“So there’s a couple of those guys come back, Taniela [Tupou] comes back. But we’re going to have to reassess a couple of other guys.
“The good thing is that we’ve got a weekend that we don’t have to play, so with the 12-day stand down there may be some guys that come back and are ready to play by the time we get to Buenos Aires and play that first game against the Argentinians.”
The Wallabies should also be with Allan Alaalatoa and James Slipper (concussion), as well as Bell (head cut), who were all forced off inside the opening 50 minutes of the loss in Perth. Hooker Josh Nasser was later replaced too after suffering cramp.
It led to a bizarre situation where the game was reduced to uncontested scrums for the final half-hour of the contest.
“It’s very hard to keep up when things are happening that quickly, some of it was managed at half-time because Allan and Angus Bell came off at half-time, but then you know you’re skinny, you can’t afford to lose another prop,” Schmidt said.
“And then Slips got an HIA right at the start of the second half so then you’re in trouble straight away, and then Josh Nasser around the 55-minute mark kept cramping, we were hoping he’d be able to play on but it just wasn’t going to be possible.
“So we had two hookers and a very young tight-head prop.
“I’ve been involved in coaching over 100 Test matches and I’ve never seen that before.”
Angus Bell made a strong return for the Wallabies during his 40-minute performance. (Photo by James Worsfold/Getty Images)
Schmidt could look to inject some experience by officially calling Force based front-rowers Brandon Paenga-Amosa and Tom Robertson into the squad after recently returning from injury.
Paenga-Amosa’s power at the scrum could be especially useful for the Wallabies as they look to snap their eight-match losing streak in The Rugby Championship.
It won’t be easy though with Los Pumas beating the All Blacks 38-30 in their TRC opener in Wellington, before struggling to back it up at Eden Park on Saturday.
“One of the things about this competition is it’s not going to get any easier,” Schmidt said.
“We play three of the four [World Cup] semi-finalists, and we weren’t one of them. It doesn’t get any easier going to Argentina next.
“They’ll be disappointed with their first half earlier tonight, but that demonstrated just how tough they can be to beat when they toppled the All Blacks and didn’t even give them a bonus point.
“I’ve known Felipe Contepomi for a long time. I’d have a lot of respect for his rugby intellect and he’s a top man.
“Being friends certainly stops a kick-off though, so they won’t be taking it easy on us and we’ll try to make things difficult for them.”
Christy Doranhttps://www.theroar.com.au/2024/08/18/not-going-to-get-easier-no-white-knight-to-save-wallabies-as-schmidt-looks-to-snap-trc-drought/‘Not going to get easier’: No white knight to save Wallabies as Schmidt looks to snap TRC drought
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