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Wallabies' powerhouse Skelton out of Rugby Championship

NEWS: Australia lock Will Skelton is returning to France to rejoin club La Rochelle before the start of the Top 14 season, in a blow for the Wallabies’ Rugby Championship hopes.

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Skelton will miss home tests against Argentina in Townsville and Sydney, with no guarantee he will return for the final matches against New Zealand.

Skelton’s return to France is more significant news for a squad beset by injury.

Australia is second on the Rugby Championship table behind the All Blacks following a win and a loss to the third-placed Springboks in South Africa.

Skelton missed a one-off test against Fiji and the British and Irish Lions series-opener with a calf injury in July, but has been an important player for the Wallabies since returning for the second Lions test in Melbourne.

Despite talks of extending Skelton’s time with the Wallabies, it appears that La Rochelle has had the final say.

While Skelton’s departure opens the door for reserve lock Lukhan Salakai-Loto, it leaves Joe Schmidt’s squad further stretched amid a rash of injuries.

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Prop Allan Alaalatoa is nursing a shoulder injury and unlikely to be named in Schmidt’s squad for the home tests against Argentina on Thursday.

No. 8 and captain Harry Wilson, prop Taniela Tupou, and hookers Matt Faessler and Lachlan Lonergan are also injury doubts for the Pumas series, which starts in Townsville on 7 September.

Fullback Tom Wright, meanwhile, will miss the remainder of the year after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, with scrum half Nic White and centre Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii also forced off with concussions in the second Springboks clash.

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