William "Will" Skelton (born 3 May 1992) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player, who plays as a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

for

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. Wi ...

in the French

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

competition. Skelton was born in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and he is of Samoan descent; he moved to Australia as a child and qualified for Australia through residency. He won 19 caps for Australia since 2014 and played at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Family and early life

Skelton was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, New Zealand, and moved with his family to Sydney at the age of 10. He is the older brother of

Cameron Skelton Cameron Skelton (born 8 March 1995 in Auckland, New Zealand), is a professional rugby union player who plays for Counties Manukau. He is the brother of Australian international second-row Will Skelton and represented the Samoa national under- ...

and is a cousin of former New Zealand lock

Brad Mika Bradley Moni Mika (born 2 June 1981) is a New Zealand rugby union player. His position is lock. He was educated at St Peter's College. He made his provincial debut for Auckland in 2000, his Super Rugby debut for Crusaders in 2002, and his inter ...

. Though smaller than his younger brother, Skelton weighed 150 kg while still a teenager and he wears size 18 to 19 (UK) boots. He played junior rugby league for the

Wentworthville Magpies The Wentworthville Magpies, colloquially known as ''Wenty'', are a rugby league team based in the suburb of Wentworthville in Sydney's Western Suburbs. Founded in 1963 (or 1937), the club has competed in various Sydney district competitions an ...

before taking up rugby union at age 15 at

The Hills Sports High School Hills Sports High School is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Mixed-sex school, co-educational Comprehensive education, comprehensive and specialist secondary school, secondary day school, with speciality in Sports ...

in Seven Hills. Skelton joined the Sydney University rugby club in 2010. In 2011, he was invited into the Waratahs Academy and the ARU's National Academy in Sydney. After a promising first year, a fractured foot sustained in February 2012 prevented him from playing for the remainder of the year.

Rugby career

Waratahs

In March 2013, Skelton was signed to the Waratahs' Extended Player Squad by coach

Michael Cheika Michael Cheika (born 4 March 1967) is an Australian rugby union and rugby league coach, and former rugby union player. He is currently head coach of Argentina in rugby union and Lebanon in rugby league. Cheika was the coach of the Australia r ...

. He made his Super Rugby debut against the Stormers, and was selected to play for the Waratahs against the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

in June of that year. Will Skelton playing for Sydney Stars NRC Round 5 (2)

In 2014, Skelton was approached by

Graham Henry Sir Graham William Henry (born 8 June 1946) is a New Zealand rugby union coach, and former head coach of the country's national team, the All Blacks. Nicknamed 'Ted', he led New Zealand to win the 2011 World Cup. Henry played rugby union for ...

to join the Blues in Auckland, but turned him down. He was named in the Australia squad for the June tests in 2014. Skelton made his test debut for Australia against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

on 21 June 2014, starting as the right lock and scoring the first try for the Wallabies in their 39–13 win. His offload game has been compared to Sonny Bill Williams'. The Waratahs made the Super Rugby semi-finals in 2015. Skelton was included in the Australia squad for the Rugby Championship and he started against the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

in the 24-20 win at

Suncorp Stadium Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...

. Skelton's inclusion in the Wallabies squad for the 2015 Rugby World Cup was cut short after he sustained a shoulder injury during the tournament.

Saracens

On 4 April 2017 it was announced that Skelton was to join Saracens on a 2-year deal beginning in the 2017/18 season following a successful run of 8 games whilst on a short-term loan earlier in the season. As of September 2018 Skelton had lost 21 kg weight since joining Saracens, bringing his weight to 125–130 kg. During his time at Saracens he has won two Premiership titles in 2018 and 2019. He also helped Saracens win the European Champions Cup in 2019.

La Rochelle

He signed for French club

ahead of the 2020–21 season. Skelton was called up to play for the Wallabies again for the 2021 end-of-year rugby union internationals, alongside former teammates

Kurtley Beale Kurtley James Beale (born 6 January 1989) is an Australian professional rugby union representative player who has made over 90 national representative appearances in a ten-year playing career at the world-class level. He is of Aboriginal desce ...

Tolu Latu Latu (born 23 February 1993) is a Tongan-born Australian Rugby Union player who currently is a hooker for the New South Wales Waratahs in Super Rugby. Career Latu plays Shute Shield rugby for Sydney University and was a member of the premie ...

and Rory Arnold. On 22 June 2021, he extended his contract with the French side until 2025. On 28 May 2022, he led La Rochelle to an epic 21-24 win against

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of ...

in the

2022 European Rugby Champions Cup Final The 2022 European Rugby Champions Cup Final was the final match of the 2021–22 European Rugby Champions Cup, and the twenty-seventh European club rugby final in general. The final was contested between Stade Rochelais, La Rochelle and Leinster R ...

at Stade Vélodrome in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

, being one of the best players on the field and earning his third European Rugby Champions Cup trophy.

Honours

Waratahs

* Super Rugby:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Saracens

* European Rugby Champions Cup:

2016-17 16-17 is a band from Basel, Switzerland. Their music combines punk rock, hardcore punk, jazz and industrial music. Biography 16-17 was founded in 1983 by Alex Buess, Knut Remond and Markus Kneubühler. When the group played its first con ...

, 2018-19 * Premiership: 2017-18, 2018-19

La Rochelle

* European Rugby Champions Cup: 2021-22

Australia

* The Rugby Championship: 2015

References

External links

It's Rugby
statistics
Waratahs Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skelton, Will 1992 births Australia international rugby union players Australian sportspeople of Samoan descent Australian people of New Zealand descent Australian rugby union players New South Wales Waratahs players Living people Rugby union players from Auckland New Zealand emigrants to Australia Rugby union locks Sydney Stars players