Will Skelton has always attracted attention, whether it be walking down the street or playing for his country, standing comfortably over two metres tall and weighing 140-150 kgs depending on which source you believe, he dwarfs just about everyone, including other professional rugby players. Due to this extraordinary size, Skelton has been the subject of much intrigue in the rugby world since making his debut for The Waratahs in May 2013.
He quickly became a favourite of head coach Michael Cheika who, the following season, played the second row in every game on the way to beating The Crusaders in the Grand Final, using him mostly as an impact sub for the last 25-30 minutes once Jacques Potgieter (himself a human wrecking ball) had run himself into the ground. From there, Skelton was put into The Wallaby’s squad; first playing against France in their three game series before going on last year’s Autumn Internationals tour with the team. While his reputation (and tales of his enormous size) preceded him, this was the biggest exposure to general rugby fans so far in his career.
With that attention, though, comes judgement and while Skelton positives stood out, so did his negatives; his work rate wasn’t that of an international at his position, he turned the ball over too much and his technique at the breakdown was virtually non-existent. These flaws, given the hype that surrounded this physical specimen, meant that going into this Super Rugby season there was a sense that Skelton was somewhat overrated. Yes he was powerful and hard to tackle and even has great hands for a second row (he did play Rugby League until the age of 15 after all) but how much use is that when he can’t do the basics well?
That chatter, combined with the upcoming World Cup, meant this was always going to be a hugely important season for the behemoth, one in which he could justify the hype and solidify his place in Australia’s World Cup plans, or prove the doubters correct by continuing to show inconsistency. In many ways, even before last weekend’s game against The Hurricanes, he had already gone a long way to legitimising his status as a true impact player at his position (he has clearly worked on his fitness in the offseason; averaging more minutes than his second row colleague and captain Dave Dennis, while also upping his tackle count and runs per game), but it was his performance against the previously undefeated Hurricanes on Saturday that truly began to show the upper reaches of his phenomenal potential.
He did everything, supplementing his typically strong running and offloading game with a rare clean break through the line, as well as having the presence of mind to get in support of Bernard Foley, who laid on Skelton’s first Super Rugby try (he already has two for Australia). In addition he cut down on his mistakes; not missing any of his eight attempted tackles, a season high, while also not turning the ball over, having already had 12 handling errors coming into the game. However, arguably his most impressive and significant impact came late on, in the 75th minute and with Dennis having already been taken off more than ten minutes earlier, (a sight that Skelton admitted after to game to being dismayed at, as he was already shattered at the time) the second-rower knew that he would have to go the distance.
With The Hurricanes on the attack just inside The Waratahs half, it was Skelton who got the ball back for his team to effectively seal the game by tracking a Ma’a Nonu run from his defensive position in the middle of the park over to a ruck on the far touchline. While in the past Skelton has tended to essentially waded into the middle of a ruck, simply looking to slow the opposition’s ball down by standing there and forcing opponents to move him out of the way (which, to be fair, is a very effective tactic at his size), here he hit the breakdown low and at speed, sending Hurricanes sprawling to the ground. This allowed Peter Betham to scamper in behind him and pick up the ball untouched before running 30 metres to The Hurricanes 22.
It was a show of just how far Skelton has come with his physical fitness, technique and understanding of the game and a show of how devastating he can be with when he does the basics consistently. Even though he spent the next two minutes staggering around like a zombie he was the first person in support of Israel Folau when the fullback made a break in the 77th minute, crucially allowing his side to keep possession and run down the clock. Again, it wasn’t a spectacular intervention, and won’t make a YouTube highlights reel unlike a few of his touches against this year’s pace setters, but it was yet another example of how this rugby goliath is making the subtle improvements his game demands. For such a big man, it is the little details Skelton and The Waratahs management are focusing on to take him from occasional impact player to the undoubted world beater he now seems set to become.
“Main Photo:”
