Skelton ready to 'exorcise World Cup demons'

Will Skelton still carries the hurt from the Wallabies’ World Cup calamity that he ended up overseeing as an injured, powerless captain.

However, the giant lock is back as a positive force, convinced the Australian team can grasp “an awesome opportunity”.

The French-based second row forward has only returned to the national team camp over the past couple of days in Teddington.

The 32-year-old still cuts a powerful, reassuring figure for the squad he once led, promising it would “mean the world” to him to don the gold at nearby Twickenham against England on Saturday.

Good judges, like former Test scrumhalf Will Genia, have been trumpeting how the return of Skelton, a serial winner in Europe with Saracens in England and now La Rochelle in France, could prove coach Joe Schmidt’s key weapon on and off the field with his inspirational presence.

And even if he is not counting his chickens about being thrust straight back into the team after missing both the July series against Wales and the Rugby Championship, the genial but fiercely determined Skelton is typically upbeat about what he’s seen of Schmidt’s work.

Even if they’re ninth in the world rankings, Skelton was adamant: “The World Cup hurt everyone involved – former Wallabies, young guys who are trying to aspire to be future Wallabies.

“But I look at it as an awesome opportunity. We can really push up in the rankings and win every game that we can.

“We’ve got a Lions series next year, which is an exciting prospect for Australian rugby, and the guys that are involved now can fulfil the potential that we have in this team.

“There’s some really good stuff there, and when I get into camp you see that day in day out, the standards that we have at training, the expectations from a world-class coaching team.

“And that’s really filtering down to every player in the squad, so I have no doubt this team is going to get where we want to get to.”

He makes it all sound a far cry from last year’s World Cup calamity under Eddie Jones, when he suffered an injury that restricted him to just one pool match appearance and may well have been a crucial factor in Australia’s subsequent unprecedented early exit.

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“Very disappointing how we finished up at the World Cup.

“Yeah, as captain, mate, it was tough,” Skelton reflected.

“But my motivation, is always high.

“It never went away.

“The motivation is always there to play for Australia.”

He said there had been no discussions with Schmidt about him regaining his captaincy.

“None of that stuff was discussed,” Skelton said.

“With a new team and a new coach, Joe’s got his process with that, but I think just having experienced guys within the squad helps the group overall.

“And I’m just here to add as much value as I can.”

He will certainly bolster a pack, honed by New Zealand’s much-lauded “scrum doctor” Mike Cron, that may well fancy its chances against an England eight that looked a mite vulnerable in the loss to the All Blacks.

“We’re seeing it as a massive opportunity to try and break that drought,” Skelton said, pondering the recent record of 10 England wins out of the past 11 Anglo-Australia Tests.

“It’s an opportunity to play against … 84,000 people, backs against the wall, and it’s just us in that circle, just that 23. We’ve got to draw from within.”