“I think all the best teams in the world have a good maul,” Skelton said.
“They have a good scrum and a maul. A team like Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, they’re the best mauling team in the world. I think that’s where this pack wants to go. That’s where this team wants to go.
“Speaking about French rugby, in one club we had 34 scrums in one game. So that just puts where the French mentality is as well. I love scrumming, so that was good for me. Running, I don’t like.
“But no, I think a set-piece has to be the cornerstone of a forward pack. We’ll be striving and always trying to get to that level.”
The Wallabies lineout was excellent against Wales, too, but the scrum was mediocre, and Skelton said the team would be working hard on fixing it this week in what is his last Test before heading back to La Rochelle.
World Rugby’s mandatory release window is only for the first three Tests in November.
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt oversees training in Edinburgh.Credit: SNS Group via Getty Images
Samu Kerevi will also return to Japan but he won’t play against Scotland after being banned for three games for a high tackle against Wales. Kerevi’s absence will likely bring Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii back into the starting side.
In a sour end to his 50th Test match, Kerevi was red carded in the second half of the Wallabies’ win over Wales for foul play on Wales flanker Jac Morgan, where the big No.12 was deemed to have made head-on-head contact.
The Wallabies on Wednesday challenged that the incident met the threshhold for a red card, which, if successful, would have meant Kerevi escaped a ban.
However, a three-person panel upheld the red card decision and handed Kerevi a mid-level suspension of six weeks, which was reduced to three weeks given mitigating factors. He can get a further week off by completing World Rugby’s tackle school.
The Samu Kerevi tackle that saw him earn a red card.Credit: Getty Images
Kerevi’s absence will likely mean Suaalii returns to the midfield to partner Len Ikitau, the partnership that was so successful in the Wallabies’ win over England at Twickenham. Suaalii came off the bench against Wales.
“It’s a big loss losing Samu but as a squad, we really push the squad mentality. It’ll be the next man in,” Lolesio said.
Scotland coach Gregor Townsend was impressed with what he saw from Suaalii at Twickenham.
“I thought some of his touches were incredible,” Townsend told Scottish media. “For your first game of union, it’s a Test match at Twickenham, and you’re able to offload lovely soft touches … He’ll take a lot of confidence from that, and I just really know they’ve got a world-class footballer already.”
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