Will Skelton
William "Will" Skelton (born 3 May 1992) is an Australian rugby union footballer, who plays as a lock for La Rochelle in the French Top 14 competition. Skelton was born in New Zealand, and he is of Samoan descent; he moved to Australia as a child and qualified for Australia through residency. He won 18 caps for Australia between 2014 and 2016. Picked for Australia’s Northern Hemisphere tour in Autumn 2021 Family and early life. Skelton was born in Auckland, New Zealand, and moved with his family to Sydney at the age of 10. He is the  older brother of Cameron Skelton and is a cousin of former New Zealand lock Brad Mika. 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 before taking up rugby union at age 15 at The Hills Sports High School 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. In March 2013, Skelton was signed to the Waratahs' Extended Player Squad by coach Michael Cheika. He made his Super Rugby debut against the Stormers, and was selected to play for the Waratahs against the British and Irish Lions in June of that year. In 2014, Skelton was approached by Graham Henry 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 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 in the 24-20 win at Suncorp Stadium. 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. 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. He signed for French side La Rochelle 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, Tolu Latu and Rory Arnold.