Jones and the Wallabies insisted Skelton was still a chance to play and refused to officially rule him out hours before kick-off,with assistant coach Dan Palmer saying there were no “mind games” at play.

Skelton was officially scratched from the team 70 minutes before kick-off,with Richie Arnold coming into the starting side and Matt Philip earning a spot on the bench.

Jones defended the call to keep the information about Skelton’s availability inside the team.

“Well,we wanted to try to get him right if we could,” Jones said. “Under regulations,we only need to name a team an hour before kick-off,so all we’re doing is being good boys and following the regulations of the tournament. Have you got a problem with that … following the regulations of the tournament?

“We can’t blame the loss on Skelton not being there. We’ve got to be good enough to be able to cope with that.”

Meanwhile,Jones is confident halfback and vice-captain Tate McDermott will be fit to take the field against Wales after his concussion against Georgia.

McDermott is likely to captain the side in Skelton’s absence. Hooker Dave Porecki filled the role against Fiji.

“Obviously,it’s an honour for me to lead[the team] and we would have liked to have a win but back to the drawing board,” Porecki said.

Australia could also be without reserve hooker Jordan Uelese,who came off in the 65th minute with what appeared to be a head knock after an awkward bump during a tackle.

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