Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has backed "big-hearted" Will Skelton to give his side the edge in Saturday's must-win British & Irish Lions clash at the MCG.
Skelton, 33, will join Rob Valetini in pulling on Wallaby gold for the first time this year after leapfrogging Jeremy Williams for a starting berth in Australia's matchday 23.
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"I think one of the key things with Will is he's a very calm influence," Schmidt said of the four-time European Champion.
"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, and so I think building confidence is an incremental thing.
"Will has accumulated that experience, he knows what it's like to play these players. He's played them regularly, and he's won against them regularly."
It's not just experience or a big heart up Skelton's sizeable sleeves for this weekend's series-defining Second Test.
At 203cm and 135kg, Skelton's ability to bend rival defensive lines and set-piece platforms offers a perfect foil to primary jumper Nick Frost.
However, his inclusion as a non-jumping lock comes with its own challenges, especially given Tom Hooper's strong showing off the bench in Brisbane and Lukhan Sakalaia-Loto's tour match form.
"One of the things last week, we didn't quite get some of the line-out platforms that we're used to, and you can initiate a little bit of momentum from those, and when we didn't get that, we were a little bit static," Schmidt admitted.
"I think Tom Hooper is very unlucky to miss out, but Will and his experience just allows us to have a look at something slightly different this week because I thought Tom came off the bench and did really well.
"I've spoken to Lukhan since the Pasifika game, spoke to him before the game. We've got him pretty close by.
"To be fair, I thought Darcy Swain was very good as well. If you have a look back at the line-out and around the field … Darcy Swain did really well as well.
"There's a couple of guys that we're certainly still in conversation with and can add value going further ahead and maybe even in the shorter term."
