Masterful Skelton is the talk of the town

IF Simon Shaw of England was a 20-storey tower block of a lock blessed with penthouse levels of skill and self-restraint, Michel Palmie of France was no match when it came to the tale of the tape – unless we’re talking about his liberal use of orthopaedic strapping, which left him looking like the profoundly unromantic lead in The Mummy’s Curse. The Beziers bruiser of old hit his heights, among other things, in other areas: aggression, intimidation, general malevolence.

- CHRIS HEWETT

Welcome to the engine room, where the men who generate the heat come in a range of shapes, sizes and sensibilities. There is a good reason why most right-thinking rugby folk identify Martin Johnson and John Eales as their dream partnership at Nos 4 and 5: Eales, the celestial light of Wallaby rugby, performing technical and athletic feats beyond the imagining of any of his peers; Johnson, the most successful of Red Rose captains, operating best under cover of darkness, for reasons not difficult to understand.

Judging by events in Dublin last weekend, where another Australian second-rower, Will Skelton, delivered the latest in a line of big-occasion masterclasses, the forthcoming World Cup may well be decided on the quality of performance in the locking department. Run an eye over the cast list and you’ll get the picture: Maro Itoje, Eben Etzebeth, Brodie Retallick, Cameron Woki, Tadhg Beirne…when the really big issues are up for debate, the arguments put forward by these people will be every bit as powerful as those tabled by Antoine Dupont, Cheslin Kolbe and Ardie Savea.