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A giant destroyer of packs and Irish dreams stands between the Lions and their historic target on Saturday, as the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground is set to stage another momentous bodyline Test.
Will Skelton is back, as the symbol of heightened Australian might and menace, for a game the hosts cannot lose. Joe Schmidt’s wounded Wallabies are primed to respond to their ‘submissive’ surrender in Brisbane last Saturday by meeting fire with fire.
While Schmidt has also reinforced his pack with a recall for outstanding flanker Rob Valetini in his home city, it is the presence of Skelton which could have most significance. The 33-year-old lock missed the series opener with a calf injury and was forced to watch the Lions rout the home side in the contact areas, until a dip in intensity allowed Australia to save face in the last half-hour, before losing 27-19.
Ollie Chessum jokingly acknowledged that his opposite number today is ‘an unusually large human’ and that is beyond doubt. Skelton was born in New Zealand, has Samoan descent and moved to Australia aged 10.
He is 6ft 8in, weighs around 23st and wears size 19 boots. He may lack recent game time, but alongside his extreme clout he brings a winning record against several of the Lions on duty here.
He has played in three Champions Cup finals, all against Leinster, and won the lot; with Saracens in 2019 and La Rochelle in 2022 and 2023. There will be seven Leinster players in the Lions starting XV and two more on the bench. The sight of Skelton will awaken some ghosts.
His La Rochelle head coach Ronan O’Gara, a Sky Sports pundit for this tour, gave Mail Sport exclusive insight into the blood and thunder Skelton will bring to the second Test.
‘His last game must have been against Pau in the Top 14 (on June 7), but he has a deep reserve and can go to a dark place by pushing himself. He’ll need to do that,’ said O’Gara.
‘His point of difference is that he gives confidence to everyone around him. Everyone in the team feels stronger when Will Skelton is next to them. That’s where he is unparalleled in the game. When you have him in your pack, you have the cornerstone, then you can build all the rows around him.
‘Will can instill confidence in the Australia players around him but, at the same time, he can’t beat the Lions on his own. The Wallabies will get a big boost from Will’s capacity to ball-carry, but he is also very intelligent. If he has three men on him, he’ll tip the ball on to someone else.
‘He can destroy the opposition’s mauls and as a ball-carrier he’s really good, but it’s also about his role during the week. He’ll be big on preparation and he’ll be excellent with their young players. He’ll be good on standards. He’s one of those players who just has a really good personality.’
Writing for the Irish Examiner before this tour, O’Gara highlighted Skelton as the biggest and best star on either side, calling him the best second row in the world and revealing that Skelton has had his eyes on this series for some time.
When O’Gara was asked about the impact Skelton’s presence tends to have on opponents, he added: ‘He’s up against a lot of the Leinster boys tomorrow and he’s gone against them a few times.
‘He likes a challenge and the Lions like a challenge, so it should make for a great spectacle. It’s interesting on a lot of fronts because Skelton has played a lot of rugby against the Leinster players and he’s played a lot of rugby with Owen Farrell and Itoje (during his Saracens stint). The Wallabies are just better with Will in the team; there’s no doubt about that.’
Prior to the first Test, before he was ruled out after failing to shake off the lingering calf problem, Skelton spoke about his regular close encounters with Leinster, which have so often gone his way. He was asked whether his tendency to target their forwards with on-field verbals was a means of pressurising them, in the belief that they would crack.
‘I think if you put pressure on any team, they can crack,’ he said. ‘I don’t talk on purpose. I don’t pre-plan stuff. Usually when I’m talking, it’s trying to hide that I’m tired!
‘When I’m talking, I’m not thinking about breathing, so that helps. I’d rather people can hear me talk than hear me heavy breathing on the mic! I love the set piece – I love that battle. I love the maul, I love the scrum.’
What is looming on Saturday is a potential arm-wrestle; a rugby equivalent of bodyline in the rain, with big bodies colliding and sparks flying as the Wallabies scrap to stay in the series and the Lions chase the win which would make history, by backing up their 2-1 triumph here in 2013.
If the match follows the expected script, Skelton’s presence is likely to be especially influential, on the tighthead side of the scrum and all around the field where the packs come together.
But in cricket’s bodyline series of 1932-33, the MCG was the only Test that Australia won in a 4-1 defeat by Douglas Jardine’s England heroes. So history may well be on the hosts’ side, no matter the odds.
‘When it’s wet in rugby, it’s a different game,’ said O’Gara. ‘It becomes very much about territory and kicking. But also, the scrum becomes more important and the lineout drive becomes more important.
‘From an attack point of view for Australia, in those conditions, having Will back in there will be a benefit to them and for the Lions front five, he’s a big addition (to cope with) as well.’
Twelve years ago, Australia came to Melbourne 1-0 down but squared the series against the Lions with an emotional onslaught.
And the Wallabies were shown how to unsettle the 2025 tourists by the heroic First Nations and Pasifika XV, who pushed the Lions to the brink on Tuesday before losing 24-19.
Speaking at the MCG on the eve of this Test – which is expected to attract a record-breaking crowd of around 90,000 – home captain Harry Wilson said: ‘A lot of us were there watching and just seeing the way Pasifika went after them; the line speed, the big hits in defence, it was a great blueprint about how to really try and physically dominate them.’
After naming his lineup, Schmidt said: ‘We don’t want to be nice and we don’t want to be submissive.’ Skelton doesn’t tend to be the nice, submissive type, as the Lions forwards well know from first-hand experience.
And as Leicester and England lock Chessum said: ‘He brings a completely different challenge around set piece and their phase play.
‘Try stopping someone who is 150 kilos or whatever it is. He’s going to bring the physical edge that we expect to see from the Wallabies this weekend.
‘I’ve played against Will in a Champions Cup with Leicester away at La Rochelle and it didn’t end well for us that day. Will is what he says on the tin; he’s a huge human being and it’s a different challenge to the one we faced last week, but one that I’ll embrace.
‘They’re going to draw on every emotional aspect that they can. They’re 1-0 down but they’re at the MCG, in front of their fans, on their home soil with the series on the line.
‘We know they’re going to throw the kitchen sink at us and that’s a real statement in the team they’ve named as well. There’s a whole different beast coming down the road and we’ll have to front up and tackle it head on.’
If the Lions are to complete their mission today, with a game to spare, they will have to man the barricades and repel Australian’s thunderous backlash, led by the recalled giant.
O’Gara believes they have the capacity to do so – and edge a tense, close encounter. ‘I think it will be tighter than people would think,’ he said. ‘But from what I’ve seen, I would say the Lions will win.’
