Rugby Union - Rugby World Cup 2023 - Pool C - Australia v Portugal - Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Etienne, France - October 1, 2023 Australia's Rob Valetini celebrates after the match REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo
BRISBANE (Reuters) -Australia are banking on heavyweight reinforcements Rob Valetini and Will Skelton to help them avoid losing the series to the British & Irish Lions next weekend after they were outclassed in the first test on Saturday.
Loose forward Valetini, who has been Australia's best test player for at least the last two years, and lock Skelton, who brings much-needed heft to the Australia pack, both missed the series opener due to calf strains.
Coach Joe Schmidt confirmed both would be fit to face the Lions next week at Melbourne Cricket Ground as the Wallabies look for a win which would send the series into a decider in Sydney on August 2.
The prospect of the series remaining in the balance into August looked like a pipe dream in the first hour at Lang Park on Saturday as the Lions hammered into the Wallabies and ran up a 24-5 lead.
The fact that Australia fought back to score two tries in the final quarter to lose by only eight points gave Schmidt some hope that the series was not already dead in the water.
"If you kind of win the second half, it at least gives you some belief," Schmidt said.
"We will have a couple of fresh guys training fully with the team this week, which will also add a bit of ballast to our forward pack, hopefully."
While Valetini and Skelton might help the Wallabies in the physicality stakes, bridging the gulf in class between the halfback pairings would look a tougher task.
Flyhalf Finn Russell and scrumhalf Jamison Gibson-Park put on a masterclass as they guided the Lions around the park like the seasoned internationals that they are.
Australia's playmaker Tom Lynagh, who was making his first test start, was brave in the face of the early storm but kicked poorly and struggled to make an impact without any front-foot ball.
The Wallabies did look more threatening once Lynagh's Queensland teammate Tate McDermott replaced Jake Gordon at scrumhalf but by then too much damage had been done.
Schmidt might make other changes to get the Wallabies into better shape for the second test but the canny New Zealander was also painfully aware that the tourists will not be standing still.
"They're going to get better. They've got strength and depth," he said.
"We've got to keep learning fast and hit the ground running next week, otherwise it becomes a dead rubber in Sydney.
"I know the Lions will want to close it out in Melbourne. So I think Melbourne is going to be massive for both teams."
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
