Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt says Rob Valetini, Will Skelton and Taniela Tupou are all in contention to play for the Wallabies in Johannesburg on Sunday week.
Australia will face a huge task against the world champions at Ellis Park, with the Springboks unbeaten against the Wallabies at the ground in 62 years.
Every Test is valuable for Schmidt in accumulating rankings points ahead of the Rugby World Cup 2027 draw.
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But the Australian coach said he does not prioritise certain games over others, rather he’d like to build off what the Wallabies accomplished in the British Lions tour.
Schmidt said Tupou, Valetini and Skelton will all push for selection against the world champions after impressing against the tourists.
James Ryan of the Lions is injured while tackling Will Skelton of the Wallabies. Getty
“They’re definitely all in contention for Ellis Park,” Schmidt told The Sydney Morning Herald at Sydney Airport this morning.
“Obviously, Will played 60 minutes [in the third Test against the Lions], Nela [Tupou] played 60-odd [minutes] in Sydney. It feels like a long time ago; it wasn’t even a week ago.
“So they’re fine and Bobby [Valetini] did a really good run yesterday, so our ambition is that he’ll train fully with us this week.”
After an outsating Lions series, Skelton is likely to play his first game in The Rugby Championship in a non-World Cup year since 2016.
Schmidt said he was thankful that Skelton’s Irish coaches Ronan O’Gara and Donnacha Ryan had allowed him to play for the Wallabies. Although, would not confirm if he will be with the team beyond the South Africa tour.
“At the moment we’re just taking it almost week by week, maybe two weeks by two weeks,” Schmidt said.
“We’ll get those two weeks done [against South Africa], we’ll assess at the end of that, and then we’ll go again in the block at home against Argentina and then … home games against the All Blacks.
“We’ll just see how that dovetails in [with Skelton]. Obviously I’m going to have to supply some decent vin rouge [red wine] for Rog [O’Gara] and Donnacha Ryan, who are pivotal in allowing us to have Will for those periods.
“As much as they’re [World Rugby’s] reg nine windows for the actual match weeks, the logistics of getting up and back, up and back, make it pretty difficult to get continuity of performance from guys like Will.”