Wales have made four changes to face Australia this Saturday in Cardiff, with Gethin Jenkins returning at loosehead prop.
The three other changes also come in the pack, with Aaron Shingler starting at blindside flanker, Scott Andrews in at tighthead prop for the injured Aaron Jarvis and Ian Evans replacing Bradley Davies in the second row.
The backline remains unchanged from last weekend's defeat to New Zealand, whilst on the bench Ryan Bevington, Samson Lee and Dan Biggar are all included along with Ryan Jones.
"We need to pick up again where we left off in the second half last week," said Wales head coach Warren Gatland.
"We managed to retain 73% possession after the break against the All Blacks and win the territory battle and we need to put Australia under similar pressure from the outset.
"We have played them regularly over the last couple of years and have come close to winning on a number of occasions, but have not quite been able to get ourselves over the chalk of the finish line.
"Both sides have had injuries to cope with, but there is every reason for optimism. The Millennium Stadium crowd will be in full voice again, they were outstanding last week, and we are aiming to reach the end of a tough series on Saturday and finish off on a high."
Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Ian Evans, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Ryan Jones, 20 Justin Tipuric, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Scott Williams.
Date: Saturday, December 1
Kick-off: 14:30 GMT
Venue: Millennium Stadium
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: Romain Poite (France), Greg Garner (England)
Television match official: Marshall Kilgore (Ireland)
Comments
jontheref says...
We all know Gatland is stubborn, but I suspect there is the hand of Howley in this.
Hook has obviously upset him, and Howley will not forget it.
If the story in the WM about Priestland letting the "award" of most handsome guy in Wales going to his head is true, it shows how immature he is.
rich1411
You are probably right about Roberts going off early, I worry about the long term effects, and also think Williams Davies works better than anything else we have seen this Autumn.
Posted 08:04 30th November 2012
tenpm says...
Priestland is only getting worse from all the pressure on him. Seeing him coming off against NZ, I felt sorry for him because he didn't look like he enjoyed being there anymore than Welsh fans enjoyed him being there. He shouldn't be starting, both for his team's sake and for his own good.
Posted 23:50 29th November 2012
rich1411 says...
Is it Priestland's ball or something?! Really can't work out what the management team see in him still.
Would rather see Davies and S.Williams at centre. Then again, with the way Roberts has been lately, I'll probably get my wish after about 20 mins.
Posted 20:04 29th November 2012
jontheref says...
With who is available, a good team.
Except the elephant in the room.
priestland.
Have to agree rugbylocos, I also believe Scott Willaims adds something to the back line, that the giants on their own do not.
If they are going to play Jamie Roberts, they need to change the play book, as it is so predictable.
The coaches seem to think they have "must have " players in their team, to the detriment of the team.
Play like the 2nd half for the full 80, could win this one.
Posted 16:20 29th November 2012
melkdave says...
No disrespect to Australia ,but i really want Wales to win this one lol.From a welsh perpective victory is a must,not just for the RWC draw but from a confidance perpective aswell,going into the 6Ns and a Lions year.Would have prefered D.Bigger starting myself ,but perhaps his still feeling his injury Anyhow come on Wales
Posted 13:55 29th November 2012
RugbyLocos says...
No disrespect to George North, but I am glad that Liam Williams is getting another opportunity to show his worth. I would also liked to have seen Scott Williams in the starting line up - I won't bang on about Hook anymore, because that is a lost cause.
If nothing else, these Autumn internationals have pushed the welsh management to play some different combinations, due to injury - something they would not have done otherwise. I posted during the six nations my opinion that Wales's one-dimentional power-play was going to bring limited success - particularly against the southern hemisphere teams that our not intimidated, in any way, by the size and physicality of the Wales team. Wales needs to bring some pace, inginuity, and effective running lines into their game, as they are starting to stagnate.
Posted 13:52 29th November 2012