Will Skelton shocked to be named Wallabies captain but wants to move past Scotland brain snap

Dublin: Will Skelton was shocked when he found out he would captain the Wallabies XV that took on the French Barbarians on Thursday night, but says he enjoyed the humbling experience, even if the result didn't go the Australians' way.

When the NSW Waratahs second-rower had the "c" next to his name this week, a number of Wallabies fans expressed their bemusement, given what occurred in the dying stages of the match against Scotland earlier in the spring tour.

With Australia trailing 22-16 and having the benefit of a penalty deep in Scotland's half, Skelton produced the brain snap of the tour by trying to clear out a ruck without wrapping his arms around a defender.

It looked bad on replay and the 24-year-old was sent to the sin bin at a critical moment of the match.

Sinking feeling: Will Skelton comes to terms with defeat against the Barbarians.Credit: Getty Images

Skelton's actions did not please coach Michael Cheika at the time, who said: "It's ill-disciplined from him. He doesn't have to do it. It's after the whistle. We had our own penalty. I don't even need to tell him, so I don't think he'll be worried about me saying it here."

Despite this, Skelton was picked on the bench the following week against the French and then was given his opportunity to captain a rugby team for the first time in his career, something he was hardly expecting given what transpired in Edinburgh.

"I was shocked at first," Skelton said of the captaincy. "I still don't think it's sunk in. It's a huge honour for not only myself but my family and obviously we didn't get the result but it was great to lead the boys out there. I've never been captain. It wasn't something I was expecting but I loved every moment of it."

When Cheika said at the post-match press conference he did not need to speak to Skelton, he wasn't joking, with the second-rower confirming he received the silent treatment.

Leading from the front: Will Skelton charges into the Barbarians defence in Bordeaux.Credit: Getty Images

"He [Cheika] didn't really say anything, he didn't need to say anything, I knew what I did," Skelton said. "It wasn't the right decision for the team and the boys dug deep. I trained really hard the following week to get back into the Test frame. He didn't really say much to me after the game. He has high standards and I do, too. I want to get rid of that ill-discipline out of my game.

"After that game I know what I did was wrong and I left it there and I didn't go back to it. It's something that you move on from those things and grow. I took that opportunity with both hands. I loved every minute of it. Talking to the ref, I was trying to be myself and not trying to force it."

One of the biggest compliments during the week came from former Wallabies captain Ben Mowen, who said Skelton had leadership potential and was a player who had impressed him.

The duo roomed together in Bordeaux and Mowen's kind words were very much appreciated by Skelton.

"It's humbling," Skelton said. "I hadn't played with him, so it was awesome to play alongside him. He's a great person. We were roomies actually so we had some chats before we went to bed. It was a bit weird, but it's what we do in the set-up. I got to know him over the last few days and we connected and he helped me a lot there out on the field alongside a lot of the other guys who helped me with the decisions I made."

The Wallaby XV led early thanks to a try from Mowen, but went down 19-11 to a French Barbarians outfit that ground their way to victory using northern hemisphere tactics.

"We wanted to start fast and I thought we did that," Skelton said. "We scored pretty quick off the back there and I thought we applied a lot of pressure the first part of the first half. We let them back in with a yellow card and momentum swung a bit. I thought the boys dug deep. I'm extremely proud of the boys."