'I don't know why he is not an international player'

Wallabies’ giant Will Skelton has been selected for the Barbarians and will test out England in an emotional match before their tour to Australia.

Skelton, who scored one of his only two Test tries for the Wallabies at Twickenham eight years ago, will start in the Baa-Baas’ second row on Sunday alongside former England international George Kruis, who’ll be playing his last game.

And Skelton’s selection has left the invitation side’s French coach Fabien Galthie wondering why the big man isn’t more of a regular fixture still for the Wallabies.

Will Skelton joins The Rugby Pod.

The big rig Will Skelton joins us from Monaco this week where he’s on tour with the Barbarians and rooming with George Kruis. He fills us in on the tour so far, hanging out at the palace with the Prince and who’s leading the charge off the pitch. We also hear about his man-of-the-match performance for La Rochelle in the Champions Cup Final, that famous open-top bus celebration and what it’s like playing for coaches like O’Gara and Cheika.

Will Skelton joins The Rugby Pod.

The big rig Will Skelton joins us from Monaco this week where he’s on tour with the Barbarians and rooming with George Kruis. He fills us in on the tour so far, hanging out at the palace with the Prince and who’s leading the charge off the pitch. We also hear about his man-of-the-match performance for La Rochelle in the Champions Cup Final, that famous open-top bus celebration and what it’s like playing for coaches like O’Gara and Cheika.

Skelton and Kruis were teammates at English club Saracens, with Six Nations-winning coach Galthie believing their rekindled partnership will be a fitting way for the 45-times capped England World Cup finalist to bow out.

“Will is big and good and clever. I don’t know why he is not an international player now – maybe they manage players in their country, and overseas maybe not – but in this case it is an opportunity for us because Will wanted to play with George Kruis,” said Galthie.

“It is like a present for George because they played at Saracens years ago. It is a nice story.”

Skelton did feature with a 19th cap for Australia in the loss to Scotland at Murrayfield last November, his first appearance in the green and gold for five years.

The 30-year-old La Rochelle lock, who at 140kg and 2.03m tall remains one of the biggest players in the professional game, will be a formidable opponent for the home side, who are honing their final preparations before coach Eddie Jones names his touring squad.

Skelton last month led La Rochelle to a 24-21 win against Leinster in the European Champions Cup Final in Marseille, in which he was outstanding.

Australian Jones, defending an unbeaten coaching record for England against the Wallabies, will be hoping to stretch his sequence to 11 straight wins over his home country by winning the July series 3-0.

Kruis and Skel ton will be part of a team dominated by stars from Fr ance’s grand slam-winning squad.

French players make up 10 of the starting line-up, with captain Charles Ollivon back in international action after being sidelined during the championship with injury.

The only other representatives are Fiji’s Levani Botia and Georgia pair Beka Gigashvili and Davit Niniashvili, all of whom play their club rugby in France. There are also eight French players on the bench.

Galthie, who has led a training camp in Monaco this week, said: “It has been a good experience for us.

“We have 19 French players, so we are the British Barbarians with a French accent!”