Wallabies bring back Valetini, Skelton for must-win Lions Test at MCG

The Australian

28-07-2025

The Wallabies have declared they won't submit to the British & Irish Lions' physicality as they did in the first Test, and are embracing the pressure of having to win Saturday's match in Melbourne to keep the series alive.
Desperate coach Joe Schmidt has recalled powerhouses Rob Valetini and Will Skelton into his starting side for the second Test, injecting the two big boppers weighing a combined 252kg in a bid to turn the tables on the Lions.
'We didn't have the intention last week, and we don't have the intention this week, of being submissive, I just think that they played on the edge really well,' Schmidt said.
'They got in amongst us, sometimes just beside us, which made it very hard to play. We're hopeful that we will be able to take that to them this week and keep them on the back foot a little bit more.'
Australian fullback Tom Wright said while they're relishing the pressure to go 1-all with victory at the MCG in front of a crowd estimated to exceed 90,000 fans, they're not viewing the must-win game as a backs to the wall situation.
'All the pressure is obviously on us, that was the way you phrased that question then, and we are embracing that,' Wright said.
'Preparation for the week's been rock solid, as it has been for most of the week since I've been back in this environment with Joe, and we're not letting the external hype get the better of us.
'If we start thinking about do-or-die or backs-to-the-wall, to use your term, I think external added pressure that's probably unnecessary. Are we trying to win the game last week? Absolutely.
'Are we trying to win the same game that we're trying to play this week? For sure. Next week, are we going to try and do the same thing? Absolutely. But are we thinking that far in advance? Probably not, no.
Tom Wright in action during the First Test against the British & Irish Lions. Picture:'So I know speaking for the playing group and the way that we prepare ourselves, even without the coaching staff pointing us in the right direction, that's the mentality that we're taking is like, do we want to be more aggressive and throw more punches in this game? Absolutely.
'But it's not because our backs-to-the-wall, it's just because that's how we want to play.'
The addition of Valetini and Skelton, both returning from calf injuries, has led Schmidt to name a 6-2 split on the bench, with Langi Gleeson being added as backrower cover alongside Carlo Tizzano, while Tate McDermott and Ben Donaldson are the only back-ups to an unchanged starting backline from Brisbane.
Hooker Matt Faessler and flanker Nick Champion de Crespigny have been dropped from the squad that lost 27-19 in Brisbane, and Andrew Kellaway drops off the bench, while Jeremy Williams moves to bench to accommodate Skelton's arrival.
Rob Valetini will return from injury for the second Lions Test. Picture: Getty
Valetini, the two-time John Eales medallist, can be a game-changer for the Wallabies if he plays his best.
'Everyone in the rugby circles knows what Bobby brings in particular,' Wright said.
'And then the other big fella, bigger fella that comes back for us, Will. His resume speaks for itself, a really calm head, won multiple things in the northern hemisphere. Obviously a large, larger than most frame, so we're pumped to have Will and Bobby back for sure.'
Schmidt says the dynamic duo will lift the confidence of the team.
'I did think that Nick Champion de Crespigny acquitted himself incredibly well in a furnace last week making his Test debut, but the experience that Bobby brings in, and he probably brings confidence to other players as well, because of his experience and his ability to take the ball forward,' Schmidt said.
Will Skelton is another huge inclusion for the Wallabies. Picture: AFP
'One of the key things with Will is he's a very calm influence. He's a big man, he's big hearted as well. Hopefully not on Saturday, but his experience and his history of being involved in successful teams, particularly with La Rochelle in Europe, I think it just gives other players confidence.
'We've got a group of players who haven't won too much in recent times, whether it's in Super Rugby or whether it's internationally. I think building confidence is an incremental thing. You've got to get small wins here and there.'
Schmidt has kept Tom Lynagh and Jake Gordon as his starting halves.
AUSSIE-BORN LIONS HERO RULED OUT OF SECOND TEST
- Julian Linden
Australian-born centre Sione Tuipulotu has been cruelly dropped from the British & Irish Lions' team to face the Wallabies in Saturday's second Test showdown at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, killing his dream of a fairytale return to the city where he was born and raised.
It is a devastating setback for the powerful midfielder, who gave up on his first goal of playing for the Wallabies after he was unable to break into the team, then moved to the other side of the world to play for Scotland, where his grandmother was born.
Tuipulotu has since established himself as genuine international star who scored the opening try for the Lions in last week's first Test victory over Australia in Brisbane after he was picked to start at inside centre.
But he's been left off the Lions' 23-man squad altogether for game two.
Sione Tuipulotu has been ruled out of the second Test with a hamstring injury. Picture: Getty
The Lions' head coach Andy Farrell said Tuipulotu had a slight hamstring strain that made it difficult to pick him so he opted instead for Ireland's New Zealand-born midfielder Bundee Aki.
'When you've got a little bit of a tight hamstring, it influences how you're possibly going to go, so we made the call to go with Bundee,' Farrell said.
'100 per cent (Tuipulotu) is absolutely gutted. He also knows that that's rugby, fairytales are not always written.
'Sione is a team man anyway. And it's the same with anyone who's missed out. Every single one of them has been rowing forward by putting the team first.'
Farrell, who also coaches the Ireland national team, originally picked an all-Irish midfield of Aki and Garry Ringrose for this weekend, but had to make a last-minute change when Ringrose withdrew after sustaining a head knock in training.
Farrell said it was a selfless act by Ringrose to notify the team about how he was feeling when he could have kept quiet and played regardless.
'With these type of things, players are getting very good at telling the truth of how they feel,' Farrell said.
'It's very easy to keep it to yourself and lie and not be honest and open. It was very big of him and the right thing to do, 100 per cent. For the team as well, not just for Garry.'
Huw Jones is back in the starting line-up for the Lions.
With Ringrose suddenly unavailable, Farrell recalled Scotland's Huw Jones to start at outside centre.
Jones and Tuipulotu regularly play together at Glasgow Warriors and Scotland and started alongside each other in the first Test victory. But instead of sticking with the proven combination, Farrell brought in Aki, one of nine Irishmen in his starting lineup for Saturday.
Farrell also selected his own son Owen, who plays for England, as one of the reserves, even though he was not picked in the original squad.
As well as bringing in Aki, Ollie Chessum will start at lock after Joe McCarthy was ruled out with a foot injury while Andrew Porter was picked at loosehead prop ahead of Ellis Genge.
In all, the Lions made seven changes to the side that won the first Test 27-19, three in the starting lineup and four on the bench.
Knowing they can clinch the series with a game to spare if they win in Melbourne, Farrell said the Lions were hoping to create history but also bracing for a backlash from the Wallabies.
Aware that the Wallabies had recalled Rob Valetini and Will Skelton and named six substitute forwards on the Australian bench, he said it was inevitable that the match would be a torrid, physical encounter.
'It is what it says on the tin. It's obvious what they're going to bring and why they're selected,' Farrell said.
'I suppose they're delighted with that and the 6-2 bench just backs that up a little bit, doesn't it? So it's not unexpected.'
The Lions' towering captain Maro Itoje said he was looking forward to the battle up front, especially with the return of the giant Skelton, the biggest player on either side.
'I've played a few good years with Will, played against him a few times as well and he's a fantastic player,' Itoje said.
'He's a talisman for any side he plays in, he adds a sense of dynamism, size, power to the team.
'I'm delighted for him that he's able to play. I know he was hoping that he would get an opportunity. And it's something that we're excited about too.'