Both sides have struggled during the autumn internationals and will need to bolster their walking wounded
Inevitably, there are changes for both teams. Each coach is under pressure, each a New Zealander. Wayne Pivac and Dave Rennie have not quite sprinkled the magic of those far-off isles on these two, certainly if results are anything to go by. Both will claim the mitigation of works in progress.
Pivac’s case may be harder to argue, given he includes six players with 626 Wales caps between them, 200 more than Australia’s starting lineup. Alun Wyn Jones, Leigh Halfpenny and Taulupe Faletau are among six changes to the side that lost to Georgia, and they supply 345 of those caps between them.On the work-in-progress front, though, Pivac awards a first cap to the 20-year-old Ospreys centre Joe Hawkins, who will line up alongside his club-mate Gareth Anscombe, another returnee to the side.
Rennie’s touring party, meanwhile, has been reduced to 25 fit players. Nic White returned to the field in Dublin under controversial circumstances, having suffered an , but he sits this out, alongside Michael Hooper and Dave Porecki, who are suffering from the same. Taniela Tupou, the mighty Tongan Thor, was felled in the same match by his own achilles. He will be out for seven months.
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