The old days: Sam Norton-Knight
Related links
Teams
Also see
After just three days to lick their Murrayfield wounds, the Wallabies are back in action against Cardiff Blues.
The midweek fixture probably couldn't have come soon enough as the men in gold look to bury the memory of losing 9-8 to Scotland, with an uncharacteristically poor 80 minutes from Matt Giteau one notable low-light.
He is ultimately given time to freshen up ahead of their final tour outing against Wales and will be replaced by Matt Toomua, who starts in a strong-looking back-line alongside the likes of Ryan Cross, James O'Connor and Lachie Turner.
Cross starts his second game in four days and will partner former Harlequins Rugby League centre Tyrone Smith against Gareth Thomas and Dafydd Hewitt, which should bring a nice midfield balance outside the improving Brumby pivot.
Tusday's one-off meeting should bring plenty of supporters out to Cardiff City Stadium and Blues Director of Rugby David Young could not hide his excitement, stating that the game will act as good preparation for their latter season charge.
"It's very rare that we get the opportunity to play an international team and this is obviously the first time since we became a region, so we have all been looking forward to the match for a number of weeks now," he said.
"The physicality of the match will be a step up for us, but in the later stages of the Heineken Cup, if you look across the teams that we have played against, they have been pretty much full international teams.
"So it is nothing that the players will be totally alien to.
"It may be obvious to say, but our opponents have looked typically Australian, in so far as they are very efficient at set piece time, very effective in the contact area with some good running lines.
"They keep the ball off the ground as much as they can and like to throw it around. They play an expansive game that we all know Australia is renowned for.
"I've had the opportunity of coaching against them before with the Barbarians but if I'm being honest it wasn't a great experience.
"For the first fifteen minutes we were in the game but after that it was one-way-traffic.
"A lot of tries they scored were from individual brilliance but they also had the attitude across the board that everyone wanted to get their hands on the ball and play.
"That is something we have to be mindful of - they are happy to attack from anywhere and anyone of their players is comfortable with ball in hand and every one of them will look to play rugby.
"We can't switch off as they will always look to attack which is great for the spectator but certainly going to test us."
Ones to watch:
For Cardiff Blues: Since moving north of the equator during the off-season, Sam Norton-Knight has struggled to settle into the number ten jersey he so desperately wanted back in Australia. But Tuesday will certainly fire him up as it's point-proving time against Brumbies pivot Matt Toomua. Aussie sledging anyone?
For Australia: Names that stand out are hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau, full-back James O'Connor and inside centre Tyrone Smith. But the form of Richard Brown could be vital ahead of facing Wales, particularly after Wycliff Palu was carried off in Scotland. A big game from the Western Force back-row could see him move above George Smith at eight this coming Saturday.
Head-to-head: We pull up at the hooking department where Gareth Williams, who seems to have pretty much nailed the two jersey from T Rhys Thomas, goes up against the brute force of Tatafu Polota-Nau. Both abrasive kinds of players so it should be fiesty up front.
Prediction: A close one for sure before Australia just sneak it by 7 points!
The teams:
Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Richard Mustoe, 13 Gareth Thomas, 12 Dafydd Hewitt, 11 Chris Czekaj, 10 Sam Norton-Knight, 9 Gareth Cooper, 8 Xavier Rush (c), 7 Ben White, 6 Sam Warburton, 5 Scott Morgan, 4 Deiniol Jones, 3 Gary Powell, 2 Gareth Williams, 1 Taufa'au Filise.
Replacements: 16 T Rhys Thomas, 17 Sam Hobbs, 18 Paul Tito, 19 Robin Sowden-Taylor, 20 Richie Rees, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Gavin Evans.
Australia: 15 James O'Connor, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 Tyrone Smith, 11 Kurtley Beale, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Richard Brown, 7 Matt Hodgson, 6 Mitchell Chapman, 5 Dean Mumm (c), 4 Dave Dennis, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Pek Cowan.
Replacements: 16 Salesi Ma'afu, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Mark Chisholm, 19 George Smith, 20 Richard Kingi, 21 Quade Cooper, 22 Luke Morahan.
Date: Tuesday, November 24
Venue: Cardiff City Stadium
Kick-off:19.35 GMT
By Adam Kyriacou
Comments
burdon says...
Cardiff have a good chance of winning this which i find extremely hard to believe since they are playing a team ranked 3rd in the world!
Looking at starting team I think that the Blues will win
Lots of talent in the Wallabies camp and they are still doing terribly. Robby Deans should be made accountable for these shocking performances!
Further i am disgusted at the lack of grace when they lost to Scotland last week "most embarrassing loss ever" take it on the chin!!! I hope next test against Scotland that Australia get a pumping just for those childish statements!
Posted 08:55 24th November 2009