Serial winner Will Skelton can barely remember the last time he captained a team, but isn’t shying away from leading the Wallabies at next month’s Rugby World Cup.
Coach Eddie Jones dumped veteran prop James Slipper from his co-captaincy gig and axed injured fellow leader Michael Hooper from his squad altogether, opting instead to hand the reins to 203-centimetre tall behemoth Skelton. Halfback Tate McDermott will be deputy.
Europe-based Skelton, who boasts a stack of titles with English club Saracens and his current French side La Rochelle, admits he lacks leadership experience and isn’t much of a talker, but was happy to answer Jones’s call.
“It's very special, not just for me, but my family,” the 31-year-old said.
“Putting on the jersey is one thing and then to be named captain, selected by Eddie, is something I'll never forget.
“What comes with that is a lot of responsibilities, a bit more pressure. It's just about being myself, leading in the only way I can, which is through my actions.
“I'm not much of a talker around the team ... it's getting this group well connected for a hard slog.”
Jones said his captaincy options had been “trial and error” since returning as Australia's coach.
He went with Slipper and Hooper as co-captains for the recent Rugby Championship, before McDermott led the side against New Zealand last weekend.
Allan Alaalatoa has also filled the role within the last year.
“Part of the job of taking over the team was to develop a leadership team that could take Australian rugby back to where we want to be, and that's at the top of the world,” Jones said.
“There's a bit of trial and error. We went with two experienced guys in Hoops and Slips, but unfortunately Hoops got injured after one game so that was the end of that experiment.
“We've been looking at what is the right mix of people to captain the team ... it's more than captaining ... Will's a very good leader of men.”
Skelton recalled one previous captaincy experience, leading a Wallabies XV against the French Barbarians in 2016, a match his side lost 19-11.
He’ll form a fearsome lock pairing with either Richie Arnold or Nick Frost, leading a forward pack he believes can challenge the world’s best.
“We've got a lot of experience in our pack, some big men as well,” Skelton said.
“They love the physical battle, having that size and that power can go one of two ways - we can shy away from it or we can take it forward and step into that contact and that physicality.
“I've got no question we'll be able to help these young boys in our team really go forwards.”
