Skelton happy with underdog status as Australia sole focus is on Test opener

Josephy Suaalii may be young but he marches to his own beat, even warming up before matches in bare feet to connect to the earth beneath him, and Will Skelton has every confidence in the Waratahs midfielder.

UNDERDOGS: Will Skelton may not think much of Henry Pollock’s bravado in expecting a 3-0 series victory for the British & Irish Lions on Australian soil over the next three weeks but the La Rochelle and Wallabies lock is relishing the underdog tag.

Will Skelton may not think much of Henry Pollock’s bravado in expecting a 3-0 series victory for the British & Irish Lions on Australian soil over the next three weeks but the La Rochelle and Wallabies lock is relishing the underdog tag.

Skelton’s Australia will welcome the Lions to Suncorp Stadium on Saturday as longshots on home turf following a less than stellar warm-up Test victory over Fiji a fortnight ago. Yet that suits the Aussie mindset and speaking at the start of Test week in Brisbane on Monday, Skelton said of the underdog status: “I love it. We love it, yeah.

“We are worried solely about ourselves. The Lions have played some great footie and we want to showcase what we can do on Saturday.

“A series win? Mate, we're worried about this game. This game is at Suncorp. We've put everything into our preparation to make sure that we're at our best on Saturday and that's what I'm excited about.” 

Skelton faced the media alongside Australia’s great rugby hope Joseph Suaalii, a convert to the 15-man union code from the Sydney Roosters of the National Rugby League. Outside centre Suaalii is no stranger to big games, having represented New South Wales in the annual State of Origin series against Queensland, and his first outings in union since his schoolboy days came as a Wallaby on tour in the Northern Hemisphere last November.

Yet the 21-year-old was surprised at the media reception he got as he walked into Monday’s press conference at his team hotel in Brisbane, making a point of counting the microphones and recorders on the table in front of him as he began to field questions.

Suaalii may be young but he marches to his own beat, even warming up before matches in bare feet to connect to the earth beneath him, and Skelton has every confidence in the Waratahs midfielder.

“He does all right doesn’t he? You would have heard people speak about it but the way he prepares for matches, I am still learning as one of the oldest in the squad how to prepare for a game and you take little bits from each -player and I have definitely taken stuff from Joe.

“He is himself, he is not being anyone else, even when he wearing his Louis Vuitton and singing his album, he is being him. That’s all as a player you want to be and a coach like Joe (Schmidt), he wants us to express ourselves and be ourselves. He is a great asset to have in the team.” 

Suaalii declined to get involved in rekindling the running on-field spat he got into with Lions centre Sione Tuipulotu when Australia played Scotland at Murrayfield last November, dismissing the verbals as “Just footie”.

“You know once you do things on the footie field, you keep them on the footie field. I am ready to go and ready to play. I don’t have too much to say about that.

“It is all about us. I always focus on myself first before I put energy into something else. Obviously fans want to see a rivalry but at the end of the day it is a team sport. I am just trying to do the best for the team.

“There has been a lot of talk around that moment. At the end of the day, it is a game of footie. Whatever is said on the field, stays on the field. Who knows what team they are going to pick but whoever they pick we are ready to go.” Skelton, on the other hand, welcomed some tension between the teams.

“Ah, that’s what you want isn’t it? Our 12s going against their 12s, 13s against 13s. No matter what it’s going to be a physical battle and we’re up for the challenge.”