FILE PHOTO: Rugby Union - Autumn International - England v Australia - Twickenham Stadium, London, Britain - November 13, 2021 Australia's Will Skelton during the warm up before the match Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Will Skelton is a lock for Australia's World Cup campaign if the hulking forward can get properly fit, Wallabies coach Eddie Jones said.
France-based Skelton, who will play in La Rochelle's Champions Cup semi-final against Exeter on Sunday, has been in regular touch with Jones and made no secret of his ambitions to play in the Sept. 8 to Oct. 28 global showpiece.
Jones said he had caught up with Skelton a couple of weeks ago in France, and Australia staff were already working on a plan to get the 140kg lock in World Cup shape.
"He's got a burning desire to be part of a winning World Cup side for Australia," Jones told The Australian newspaper.
"So we’ve got to get him fit. Playing European rugby doesn’t equip you for the World Cup, but there’s some good things he’s done.
"So if we can get him fit, which we are working on with him now, there’s no reason why he can’t come back and be a really big part of a successful World Cup campaign."
The Wallabies, under former coach Michael Cheika, were eliminated in the quarter-finals at the last World Cup in Japan and slumped to seventh in world rankings under Cheika's successor Dave Rennie, who was sacked in January.
Some optimism has returned since Jones's appointment, with Rugby Australia (RA) reporting its first financial surplus in five years this week, while the poaching of rugby league talent Joseph Suaalii last month was also welcome news.
RA's outspoken chairman Hamish McLennan has overseen the governing body's rescue from financial turmoil early in the COVID pandemic and Jones said he deserved credit for raising the profile of a sport that can appear to struggle for relevance in a crowded local market.
“I think we’re immeasurably better off than where we were," Jones said.
"He gets a lot of criticism but he’s helping change the perception of Australian rugby. We’re back in there. We’re in the market. We’re competing."
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
