Wales bring back the big guns for crunch Wallabies clash

Warren Gatland has named his side to take on the Wallabies in Lyon on Sunday, in what is one of the most important matches of the pool stages.

Adam Beard is named in the second row to win his 50th cap for Wales, with Will Rowlands starting alongside him.

Jac Morgan captains the side and starts his third match of the tournament after coming in as a late injury replacement for Tommy Reffell against Portugal last weekend. Taulupe Faletau at No. 8 and Louis Rees-Zammit on the wing are the other two players to start in all of Wales’ pool matches so far. Aaron Wainwright returns at blindside flanker to complete the back row.

Nick Tompkins and George North continue their centre partnership while Gareth Davies is named at scrum-half with Dan Biggar returning at fly-half.

Ryan Elias is named at hooker for his tenth RWC appearance across two tournaments, with Gareth Thomas starting at loosehead prop and Tomas Francis at tighthead prop.

Gatland said: “We’re happy with our position going into this game. We have two wins and ten points. There’s a confidence among this group and we’ve had a good edge to training this week.

“Everyone wants to be involved and there were some disappointed players this week, which is exactly what we want with competition strong across the squad.

“Every game in the World Cup is tough, the stakes are high, and this will be no different. Australia have talented players and we know they will want to come out and put in a performance this weekend.

“Our accuracy was good against Fiji, but it was not at the level we would like against Portugal. We are looking to get better every week. Against Australia we know we have to take our chances and put them under as much pressure as possible.

WALES TEAM VS AUSTRALIA ON SUNDAY, 24 SEPTEMBER

1 Gareth Thomas
2 Ryan Elias
3 Tomas Francis
4 Will Rowlands
5 Adam Beard
6 Aaron Wainwright
7 Jac Morgan (c)
8 Taulupe Faletau
9 Gareth Davies
10 Dan Biggar
11 Josh Adams
12 Nick Tompkins
13 George North
14 Louis Rees-Zammit
15 Liam Williams

Replacements:
16 Elliot Dee
17 Corey Domachowski
18 Henry Thomas
19 Dafydd Jenkins
20 Taine Basham
21 Tomos Williams
22 Gareth Anscombe
23 Rio Dyer

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins

2

Draws

0

Wins

3

Average Points scored

29

26

First try wins

60%

Home team wins

60%

The Wallabies meanwhile have made a big change in their approach as head coach Eddie Jones has made the decision of naming Ben Donaldson as the team’s fly-half.

Donaldson, who initially began the tournament as a fullback, will now assume the vital role of wearing the coveted number 10 jersey. This move follows the injury to Carter Gordon in the previous match against Fiji, which the Wallabies lost 22-15.

AUSTRALIA TEAM:

Your team to face Wales 🟢🟡

🏟️ OL Stadium, Lyon
📅 Monday, 25th September, 5:00am AEST
📺 @StanSportAU @Channel9#Wallabies #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/DAmkFyhIJJ

— Wallabies (@wallabies) September 22, 2023