Wallabies legend John Eales Eales has delivered a ringing endorsement of Australia's second row stocks and a 'special' flanker while calling for continuity in the Southern Hemisphere's premier tournament.
Speaking with reporters at Ballymore on Monday for the book launch of John 'Knuckles' Connolly, Eales lauded the "skills-led revolution" under Joe Schmidt and made particular note of Nick Frost and Will Skelton amid a swathe of rising lock options.
"[They're] very impressive … but Nick Frost, I think, has been enormous this year." Eales said of Australia's second rowers.
"You've really seen it over the last couple of years, his maturing as a Test player.
"The way he runs that Wallaby line-out but is still so proactive in and around the field, his work rate is very high.
"We've got these quite different locks with different skills, which I think these days you need that.
"Will Skelton definitely has a different set of skills to Nick Frost, but they're working really well together and you know that that's a position where there's a number of other guys that are just on the edge of selection if there's any issues.
"Will has been very influential over a long period … when he's on the field, fit and playing well, he's a pretty compelling option there in the second row and there's no question as well, you can see that he's a leader within the team."
Eales also made note of Fraser McReight's impressive captaincy debut against South Africa, praising the Queenslander's consistency "week-in, week-out".
"I think the first thing you need from a captain is they need to pick themselves from a playing perspective and Fraser does that," Eales said of McReight.
"He's one of the best in the world at what he does. He's a guy that the team respects and … you can see that [the team] were very happy. He was very comfortable in that role.
"The great thing is, and the important thing is, that with very strong teams, you can't just have one leadership option. You need numerous people that can step in at the right time in those roles and Harry [Wilson] has been outstanding.
"But then to replace him with Fraser, who did a wonderful job, it shows that we've got some skills around there.
"You look at number sevens that we've had in Australia over the years, we've had some pretty good ones, haven't we?
"You look at Jeff Miller, [Simon] Poidevin, Dave Wilson, George Smith, Phil Waugh … and I think Fraser, the way he plays the game, the influence that he has on the game, the number of touches and impacts that he has is pretty special as well."
With the Rugby Championship evenly poised after two rounds - Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina all banked wins across the opening fortnight - Eales called for consistency as speculation builds around the tournament's future format.
"A lot of people have been down on Australia for a number of years ,but I think you've got to put in context that we play in the consistently toughest international competition every year against New Zealand and South Africa and Argentina," Eales explained.
"How good and competitive is that competition? You only have to look that after two round - each team's won one and lost one, each team's won away and won at home - so it's a very even competition.
"It would be a shame if we didn't … look, we need some form of competition against Australia, against New Zealand and South Africa, and to continue it against Argentina.
"I'm not sure what that looks like, but it looks to me that that competition and the exposure we're getting to that works pretty well."
