Skelton set for Rugby Championship return after Lions heroics

Wallabies second-rower Will Skelton is set to play in the Rugby Championship for the first time in two years after excelling against the British and Irish Lions.

Skelton missed the first Test against the Lions due to a calf strain, but returned to be one of the Wallabies’ best performers in the second and third Tests.

Former Ireland and Lions five-eighth Ronan O’Gara was in Australia covering the Lions series for television in the United Kingdom and Ireland, saying as coach of French club La Rochelle, “the best thing I ever did was sign Will Skelton.”

After being contacted by this masthead and asked about Skelton’s availability, O’Gara responded by text message, “I think he will play the Rugby Championship.”

Skelton will be medically screened on Wednesday alongside his Wallabies teammates and he will still have to pass as fully fit to be named by coach Joe Schmidt for the Rugby Championship.

The La Rochelle star’s inclusion would be a vital boost to the Wallabies given the Rugby Championship Test will count towards World Rugby rankings, which will then affect Australia’s seeding for the World Cup which will ultimately be confirmed after the final Tests this year.

The second-rower’s physicality was key to the Wallabies’ improvement in the close defeat in the second Test in Melbourne and their win in the third and final Test in Sydney.

Skelton has played just 34 Tests for the Wallabies over 11 seasons of professional rugby, with international appearances being largely restricted by eligibility issues and injury.

Skelton played 18 Tests for the Wallabies before joining English club Saracens from the Waratahs in 2017, and subsequently moving to La Rochelle in 2020.

The original draft of the Giteau law prevented Skelton from representing the Wallabies in his prime years, given he hadn’t played the required 60 Tests that were needed for selection at the time.

However, a relaxation of eligibility rules allowed Skelton to end a five-year hiatus from international duty and play for the Wallabies on the Spring tour in 2021 against Scotland, England and Wales.

In the last eight years he has played club rugby overseas, the second-rower has only represented the Wallabies in the Rugby Championship three times, starting against South Africa, Argentina and New Zealand in 2023.

Traditionally, for Skelton to play for the Wallabies in the Rugby Championship, he has to return from France directly after playing in the gruelling Top 14 finals, where he has featured in five of his six seasons at La Rochelle.

This season, La Rochelle missed out on the Top 14 playoffs for the first time in seven years, allowing the second-rower to return to Australia earlier than expected to prepare for the Lions series.

In an interview with this masthead, Skelton previously said that he was likely to return to France after the Lions series, although the Wallaby also revealed he was set for discussions with Schmidt.

Under regulation nine of World Rugby on the availability of players, the Wallabies are entitled to ask for a squad member to be released from their northern hemisphere club for the duration of the Rugby Championship.

The Wallabies will fly to South Africa on Saturday ahead of two Tests against South Africa in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Meanwhile, former Wallabies captain Dave Porecki has retired from rugby with immediate effect.

The hooker’s 21st and final Test was against the British and Irish Lions in Melbourne.

Porecki was named captain of the Wallabies at the 2023 World Cup after injury to Skelton, leading Australia in three of their four pool games.

The Waratahs hooker has struggled with injury in his career, missing the whole of the 2024 season due to an Achilles problem.

Porecki returned in the 2025 season to play eight times for the Waratahs and featured in Tests against Fiji and the Lions.

The hooker was set to play in the third and final Lions Test, before aggravating his heel in training and missing out on selection.

“To wear the Wallaby gold and Waratahs blue was a dream of mine as a boy growing up in Manly and to be able to say I did both is something I’m incredibly proud of,” Porecki said.

“Rugby has given me so much to be thankful for and has been such a massive part of my life for so long but it feels like the right time for me to turn the page and start a new chapter.”