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NEW Wallaby Will Skelton said he came "pretty close" to accepting a brazen approach from Sir John Kirwan last year to join his boyhood club, the Auckland Blues, and walk a path toward All Black selection.
But Skelton's decision to reject the offer has him poised to win a spot in next month's opening Bledisloe Cup wearing Wallaby gold, and facing the haka instead of performing it.
After being selected to make his Test debut on Tuesday, Skelton spoke about his decision between playing for NSW or returning to the city of his birth to play for Auckland.
As revealed in the Daily Telegraph in March, Skelton was sounded out by Kirwan and later met with the former All Black and ex-New Zealand coach Graham Henry in Sydney.
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Bold as brass, Kirwan first approached the then 20-year-old while he was standing next to the Waratahs' team bus following a trial against the Blues in Whangerai.
"After we played that trial he came out ... and said: "Mate, we're interested if you're interested in having a chat to play for the Blues"," Skelton said.
Skelton later sat down with Kirwan and Henry in Sydney but even though he'd yet to play a Super Rugby game, decided he wanted to stay in NSW.
"We had meetings and I felt NSW was the place I needed to be," he said.
Will Skelton holds Wally the Wallaby at training while alongside Israel Folau and Bernard Foley. Source: News Corp Australia
"It was close, it was a tough decision but I am happy I stuck with NSW.
"I am from Auckland, and I still have a piece of my heart that goes for the Blues. Actually, that's gone away. Cheik doesn't like that.
"I am Waratahs through and through.
"My family lives here, my girlfriend is here and the culture we are building at NSW … is really crazy, and I feel I am a part of that culture.
"I have been here since I was 10, so I consider Australia my home. I'll be privileged to wear the gold jersey."
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Skelton, whose cousin Brad Mika played for the All Blacks, first popped on the Waratahs radar when in 2010 he took part in a Daily Telegraph photo shoot which highlighted the Hills Sports High Rugby forward pack being bigger than the NSW pack. Skelton was 150kg at the time.
After joining Sydney University, he rose through the Australian Rugby Union academy before being spotted by Michael Cheika at an opposed training session in late 2012 and invited to spend time with the Waratahs' senior squad.
Only a few months later Kirwan made his approach at Whangerai.
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