Pivac and Rennie feel the heat as Wales and Australia try to put out fires

Both sides have struggled during the autumn internationals and will need to bolster their walking wounded

FEELING THE HEAT: Wales head coach Wayne Pivac is feeling the pressure. Pic: PA

The international window has closed, and most people have moved on. How Wales and Australia must feel they could join them. But, no, they must rouse themselves once more – in Australia’s case for a fifth weekend in a row – to satisfy the baying hordes of fans and corporate suits.

Both might feel the poor relations of their respective circles, all the more so in their battered and weakened states – and a cursory glance at their walking wounded and positions on the rankings ladder will supply ample reason for them to feel that way. Wales are coming off the fresh indignity of a home defeat to Georgia, while Australia were hardly any more enamoured of their first defeat to Italy in Florence the weekend before that.