Skelton was outstanding for the Wallabies in the Lions series, and also played a big role in the Wallabies’ winning at Ellis Park for the first time in 62 years last month. But Skelton subsequently returned to his French club side La Rochelle ahead of the Top 14 season.
Rugby Australia was hopeful Skelton may return for the Wallabies’ two Tests against the All Blacks on September 27 in Auckland, and in Perth on October 4, and have been in ongoing discussions with La Rochelle coach Ronan O’Gara.
Will Skelton has been strong for the Wallabies this winter.Credit: Getty Images
But the likelihood of Skelton playing in the Bledisloe Cup series appears to have dwindled, with the 150kg lock telling the Kick Offs and Kick Ons (KOKO) podcast on Tuesday that his Top 14 schedule had him playing on Sunday, September 21 (5am Monday AEST).
With the Wallabies preparing for the week in Auckland, that schedule means Skelton would not be able to join the camp until late on Tuesday, and Schmidt is a stickler for not selecting players if they can’t train on Monday and Tuesday.
“It’s ongoing conversations with ROG [O’Gara],” Skelton told the KOKO podcast.
“The thing is, with that, we play Toulon next Sunday, in Toulon. So, logistically, it is obviously really tough to get back for that Bledisloe series, if you do the math. Tuesday [arrival], and then the game is not in Australia, it’s in New Zealand.”
When former Wallabies winger and KOKO co-host Drew Mitchell said Skelton should be picked even if he arrived on game day, Skelton joked: “Maybe you should tell Joe that.”
“Normally, that’s probably been the policy – he loves guys training Monday/Tuesday, which is fair. That’s a fair policy.”
It would be more feasible for Skelton to play in the second Test against the All Blacks in Perth, with La Rochelle playing Perpignan on Saturday (Sunday AEST) the following week. Unless La Rochelle allows him to miss that game, Skelton would arrive in Perth on Monday.
The scenario of Skelton playing in the second Bledisloe match could be reliant on the Wallabies still being alive in the two-game series, however, and that would require Australia to make more history and win at Eden Park.
Andrew Slack is the last Wallabies captain to have won a Test match at Eden Park, in 1986.Credit: John Selkirk
The All Blacks have won a record 51 Tests in a row at Eden Park dating back to 1994. And the Wallabies haven’t beaten the All Blacks at that particular fortress since 1986.
In the event of a Wallabies’ defeat at Eden Park, the parties would be more likely to start looking towards Skelton re-joining the squad for the November internationals, when the Wallabies play England, Italy and Ireland.
