Man mountain Skelton has a big part to play — unless Leinster can stop him

The former Wallaby is probably the last thing the province wanted to see but he does offer them a chance to prove lingering doubts about their physicality wrong

Big man on campus: Will Skelton during the La Rochelle Captain's Run at Stade Velodrome in Marseille, France. Pic: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

The stats will show that Will Skelton and James Ryan both stand 6’ 8” tall but the Auckland-born former Wallaby of Samoan heritage looms particularly large in Leinster’s minds ahead of today’s heavyweight clash in the south of France.

The theory that the Irish province can’t quite hack it with the most physically challenging of club rugby’s sides has been borne of defeats to Saracens and La Rochelle in the previous three seasons and Skelton has, forgive the pun, played a big part in that.