{"id":292909,"date":"2023-09-18T00:49:13","date_gmt":"2023-09-18T00:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=292909"},"modified":"2023-09-18T00:49:13","modified_gmt":"2023-09-18T00:49:13","slug":"have-you-got-a-problem-with-that-skelton-tupou-to-miss-must-win-clash-as-jones-defends-mind-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/have-you-got-a-problem-with-that-skelton-tupou-to-miss-must-win-clash-as-jones-defends-mind-games\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Have you got a problem with that?\u2019 Skelton, Tupou to miss must-win clash as Jones defends mind games"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Save articles for later<\/h3>\n<p>Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Saint-Etienne:<\/strong> Wallabies captain Will Skelton and influential tight-head prop Taniela Tupou will miss the must-win World Cup match against Wales on Sunday (Monday AEST) due to injury but could feature later in the tournament, according to coach Eddie Jones.<\/p>\n<p>After the opening 35-15 victory against Georgia, Skelton and Tupou were both due to start against Fiji in Saint-Etienne but picked up injuries at training during the week that forced them out of Sunday\u2019s crucial pool match.<\/p>\n<p>Skelton (calf) and Tupou (hamstring) were in the stands at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard as the Wallabies slumped to a disastrous 22-15 defeat against a spirited Fiji outfit.<\/p>\n<p>The Wallabies will now be without two of their best players for a game against Wales they must win to have a chance of making a quarter-final.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNeither of those will be available for Wales,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n<p>Pressed on whether either would be ruled out for the tournament, Jones indicated they could still take part in later games.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static.ffx.io\/images\/$zoom_0.156%2C$multiply_0.7725%2C$ratio_1.5%2C$width_756%2C$x_8%2C$y_0\/t_crop_custom\/q_86%2Cf_auto\/9e497cc6f7355de449eb568f94485c8d1ce80648\" height=\"390\" width=\"584\"><\/p>\n<p><span>Will Skelton walks in a moonboot ahead of Australia\u2019s loss to Fiji in Saint-Eteinne. <\/span><cite class=\"ojLwA\"><span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n<p>After the Wales fixture in Lyon, the Wallabies face Portugal (October 1) in their final pool game before a potential quarter-final on the weekend of October 14-15.<\/p>\n<p>Skelton was named in Australia\u2019s starting side against Fiji on Friday, moments before Jones told reporters the second-rower was awaiting scans after going down at training on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Jones and the Wallabies insisted Skelton was still a chance to play and refused to officially rule him out hours before kick-off, with assistant coach Dan Palmer saying there were no \u201cmind games\u201d at play.<\/p>\n<p>Skelton was officially scratched from the team 70 minutes before kick-off, with Richie Arnold coming into the starting side and Matt Philip earning a spot on the bench.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static.ffx.io\/images\/$zoom_0.126%2C$multiply_0.7725%2C$ratio_1.5%2C$width_756%2C$x_0%2C$y_0\/t_crop_custom\/q_86%2Cf_auto\/b7e9689f9e5867d83266c50f9956f6783179b06d\" height=\"390\" width=\"584\"><\/p>\n<p><span>Wallabies prop Taniela Tupou. <\/span><cite class=\"ojLwA\"><span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n<p>Jones defended the call to keep the information about Skelton\u2019s availability inside the team.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, we wanted to try to get him right if we could,\u201d Jones said. \u201cUnder regulations, we only need to name a team an hour before kick-off, so all we\u2019re doing is being good boys and following the regulations of the tournament. Have you got a problem with that \u2026 following the regulations of the tournament?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can\u2019t blame the loss on Skelton not being there. We\u2019ve got to be good enough to be able to cope with that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Jones is confident halfback and vice-captain Tate McDermott will be fit to take the field against Wales after his concussion against Georgia.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static.ffx.io\/images\/$zoom_0.151%2C$multiply_0.7725%2C$ratio_1.5%2C$width_756%2C$x_0%2C$y_0\/t_crop_custom\/q_86%2Cf_auto\/7378882029d71d566e88644fb6fcf02315b09d3f\" height=\"390\" width=\"584\"><\/p>\n<p><span>Eddie Jones during the game against Fiji.<\/span><cite class=\"ojLwA\"><span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n<p>McDermott is likely to captain the side in Skelton\u2019s absence. Hooker Dave Porecki filled the role against Fiji.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cObviously, it\u2019s an honour for me to lead [the team] and we would have liked to have a win but back to the drawing board,\u201d Porecki said.<\/p>\n<p>Australia could also be without reserve hooker Jordan Uelese, who came off in the 65th minute with what appeared to be a head knock after an awkward bump during a tackle.<\/p>\n<p><b>Watch all the action from <\/b><b>Rugby World Cup 2023<\/b><b> on the Home of Rugby, Stan Sport. Every match streaming ad-free, live and in 4K UHD with replays, mini matches and highlights available on demand.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Sports news, results and expert commentary. <\/i><\/b><b><i>Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/i><\/b><b><i>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<h2>Most Viewed in Sport<\/h2>\n<h3>From our partners<\/h3>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theage.com.au\/sport\/rugby-union\/have-you-got-a-problem-with-that-skelton-tupou-to-miss-must-win-clash-as-jones-defends-mind-games-20230918-p5e5ff.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Saint-Etienne: Wallabies captain <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292908,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\u2018Have you got a problem with that?\u2019 Skelton, Tupou to miss must-win clash as Jones defends mind games - Sportstons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/rugby-union\/have-you-got-a-problem-with-that-skelton-tupou-to-miss-must-win-clash-as-jones-defends-mind-games\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Have you got a problem with that?\u2019 Skelton, Tupou to miss must-win clash as Jones defends mind games - Sportstons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. 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