Wallabies: Kane Douglas proves he’s ready in training skirmish with Will teammate Skelton

HE’S gone from fighting off the Irish in Dublin to training with the Fighting Irish in America. But it was fighting Will Skelton in Sydney that proved Kane Douglas is ready for a return to the Wallabies.

HE’S gone from fighting off the Irish in Dublin to training with the Fighting Irish in America.

But in between Wallabies lock Kane Douglas has proved he’s ready for Test battle with a far more dangerous assignment: fighting Will Skelton in Sydney.

Douglas is set to make his first start for the Wallabies in almost two years against the USA on Sunday in Chicago, after just making the cut for Australia’s 31-man World Cup squad two weeks ago.

The 26-year-old lock won his spot on the basis of just 20 minutes of rugby this winter — against the All Blacks in Auckland — after returning from a three-month stint on the sidelines due to back surgery.

It was a bracing return to action and a full Test against the Eagles promises to test Douglas’ body as well.

But full contact training sessions under Michael Cheika have gone some way to replicating match fitness, and a fiery encounter in training with 150kg Skelton showed Douglas’ combat fitness is also ready to go.

During rolling maul training last week, Douglas and Skelton skirmished and after attacking each other’s heads, the pair were sent to the sideline to cool their heels.

“Willy is pretty good at coming through your mauls and stuff and he was trying to come through and I was trying to stop him,” Douglas explained on Wednesday.

“I had him around the neck at one stage and then he’s pushing my head back in retaliation. Cheik sent off us, he said they’re going to yellow card that at the World Cup so sit out a lineout. That was our punishment.

“It was good to have a bit of a joke there. Willy was giving me the evil eyes for a couple of days. It was a bit of fun.”

Douglas last ran on for the Wallabies in September, 2013, against Argentina before making a move to play for Irish club Leinster a year later. That stay was cut short, however, when the big lock sought a release to return home in July for personal reasons.

Having played under Michael Cheika at the Waratahs in their 2014 title, the Wallabies coach seized the chance to draft Douglas and his abrasive style back into the Australian set-up.

Though Douglas hopes his Irish experience — though brief — sees him return to the Test arena a better player.

“I am hoping that’s the case. There is probably not one thing I can say I am better in, but all those little experiences and playing with different guys and doing plenty of scrummaging, it all helps you improve,” he said.

Along with his teammates, Douglas has been relishing the unique experience of the Wallabies’ training camp at the University of Notre Dame this week. They’ve trained in sweltering heat, toured sporting facilities worth hundreds of millions of dollars and even sized themselves up against some of the offensive lineman of the Fighting Irish football squad.

“There are some big boys in there. We went in and saw the offensive guys and they’re all 18-22 and all the same size, 6-foot-5 and something like 130-140kg,” Douglas said.

With Hayne Plane hype buzzing even in the US, Cheika might want to forbid his players mucking around as gridiron players when the team returns to South Bend next week after the Chicago Test.

Members of the team mucked around running routes after training on Tuesday and Israel Folau looked invitingly slick to scouts in receiving some passes from local students.

The size of Douglas’ sparring partner is also turning heads on campus.

“We went for a little tour through the footy field the other day and they were definitely eyeing Willy off,” Douglas said. “He’s a big boy wherever you go.”

Cheika is expected to rest several players for the USA Test in Chicago, after saying he’d look to manage the workload of several players who’ve played a majority of Super Rugby and Test rugby this year.

Originally published as Wallabies: Kane Douglas proves he’s ready in training skirmish with Will teammate Skelton