Injury-hit Welsh will ‘have a crack’
The Wallabies have arrived in Cardiff with the dust still settling on their 26-24 victory over New Zealand two days ago.
Wing James O’Connor’s thrilling last-gasp try and conversion in Hong Kong ended the All Blacks’ run of 15 successive Test wins and confirmed Australia as major World Cup contenders next year.
They return to the Welsh capital 12 months after running Wales ragged, a 33-12 triumph even more emphatic than the scoreline suggests.
It remains Wales’ heaviest home defeat of coach Warren Gatland’s 29-Test reign, and the home side could be up against it once more, especially as their front-line casualty count now stands at four after centre Jonathan Davies (ankle) joined Lee Byrne (hand), Leigh Halfpenny (ankle) and Ryan Jones (calf) on the injured list.
But defence coach Edwards is determined to see Wales at least match Australia’s threat.
“Obviously, they are a very formidable outfit at the moment,” he said.
“The last two Test matches we’ve had against them, we’ve won one and they were very dominant in the last one, which still hurts.
“They are coached by one of the best coaches (Robbie Deans) of all-time, and they are an incredibly difficult team to defend against.
“But we are up for the challenge. We are very determined to redress what happened last time against them and to repeat what happened the time before.”
Gatland will announce his starting line-up on Thursday, with Tom Shanklin and Andrew Bishop the probable centre pairing if, as expected, James Hook features at full-back instead of Byrne.
Newport Gwent Dragons flanker Dan Lydiate is likely to enter the back-row equation instead of Jones, with Halfpenny’s being replaced by either Tom Prydie, Will Harries or Aled Brew.
Davies’ absence though, is another blow after he suffered ankle ligament damage during a training session last week.
Uncapped Dragons flanker Toby Faletau, meanwhile, has been called into the squad for Scarlets forward Rob McCusker, who faces a hernia operation.
Faletau, 19, is the son of former Tonga international Kuli Faletau, and played for Wales Under-20s last season.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
