Warren Gatland has named his team to face Australia in this weekend’s second Test in Melbourne, with Aaron Wainwright and Josh Hathaway ruled out through injury.
The only changes made by the Wales coach are injury-enforced, as his side look to bounce back from last Saturday’s 25-16 defeat in Sydney to level the series.
No. 8 Wainwright has been ruled out of the rest of the tour with a hamstring injury, with Taine Plumtree moving from blindside flanker to take his place at the back of the scrum.
James Botham moves into the starting side to fill Plumtree’s role at six, with Mackenzie Martin being named as the back-row cover on the bench.
The other change sees Josh Hathaway ruled out with an arm injury after his debut last week.
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Liam Williams, who had been an injury doubt himself, moves to the wing – with Cameron Winnett coming in at full-back.
Another of Wales’ injury concerns, Gareth Thomas, is fit to start in the front-row – with Wales naming an unchanged front-five from last week.
Cardiff half-backs Ellis Bevan and Ben Thomas are given another chance to start, while Mason Grady starts at inside centre once again alongside Owen Waktin.
Gatland said: “We’re looking forward to getting back out on pitch this weekend in Melbourne.
“This week we’ve been going through our processes, building on what worked well and sharpening the areas that need improvement.
“We expect Australia to go up another level this weekend and we know we need to as well.
“We want to start well and make sure we are disciplined and accurate from the off. Then it’s about keeping in the arm-wrestle for the duration.”
Wales: Cameron Winnett; Liam Williams, Owen Watkin, Mason Grady, Rio Dyer; Ben Thomas, Ellis Bevan; Gareth Thomas, Dewi Lake (c), Archie Griffin, Christ Tshiunza, Dafydd Jenkins, James Botham, Tommy Reffell, Taine Plumtree.
Replacements: Evan Lloyd, Kemsley Mathias, Harri O’Connor, Cory Hill, Mackenzie Martin, Kieran Hardy, Sam Costelow, Nick Tompkins.
Follow live updates below:
00:21Ben James
Gatland’s thoughts
“We’re looking forward to getting back out on pitch this weekend in Melbourne.
“This week we’ve been going through our processes, building on what worked well and sharpening the areas that need improvement.
“We expect Australia to go up another level this weekend and we know we need to as well.
“We want to start well and make sure we are disciplined and accurate from the off. Then it’s about keeping in the arm-wrestle for the duration.”
00:05Key Event
Wales team to face Australia
15. Cameron Winnett (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 6 caps)
14. Liam Williams (Kubota Spears – 91 caps)
13. Owen Watkin (Ospreys / Gweilch – 40 caps)
12. Mason Grady (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 13 caps)
11. Rio Dyer (Dragons / Dreigiau – 21 caps)
10. Ben Thomas (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 3 caps)
9. Ellis Bevan (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 2 caps)
1. Gareth Thomas (Ospreys / Gweilch – 32 caps)
2. Dewi Lake (Ospreys / Gweilch – 14 caps) captain / capten
3. Archie Griffin (Bath Rugby / Caerfaddon – 2 caps)
4. Christ Tshiunza (Exeter Chiefs / Caerwysg – 11 caps)
5. Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter Chiefs / Caerwysg – 18 caps)
6. James Botham (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 12 caps)
7. Tommy Reffell (Leicester Tigers / Caerlŷr – 19 caps)
8. Taine Plumtree (Scarlets – 4 caps)
Replacements / Eilyddion
16. Evan Lloyd (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 4 caps)
17. Kemsley Mathias (Scarlets – 4 caps)
18. Harri O’Connor (Scarlets – 3 caps)
19. Cory Hill (Secom Rugguts – 33 caps)
20. Mackenzie Martin (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 4 caps)
21. Kieran Hardy (Ospreys / Gweilch – 22 caps)
22. Sam Costelow (Scarlets – 14 caps)
23. Nick Tompkins (Saracens / Saraseniaid – 37 caps)
23:49Ben James
Not long now
Good morning from over here in Melbourne.
We’ll be finding out what the Wales team is shortly, with some key injuries likely to dictate selection.
Other than that, you can probably expect largely the same team as Sydney, with Wales speaking about consistency this week.
Not long to go now.
22:33John Jones
Announcement time
We’re expecting Warren Gatland to announce his team at midnight (9am in Melbourne)
Stick with us for all the latest.
22:09John Jones
Legend has his say
Wales and Lions legend Graham Price has had his say on what he’s seen from Warren Gatland’s side so far in Australia, and says the coach is going to have to make some big changes if they are to level the series in Melbourne this weekend.
You can read his latest column for WalesOnline here.
21:07John Jones
Wales win ‘non-negotiable’
A Welsh win this weekend is “non-negotiable” according to centre Owen Watkin, with another defeat putting Wales within one more loss of their worst ever run of games.
“It’s non-negotiable,” he said. “We need a win on Saturday. We put ourselves in a position to win that game on the weekend and the discipline error count let us down. We’ve tried to put that right this week in training in preparation for Saturday.
“As a squad, we were massively disappointed with the result. We went into the game and we fully believed that we could win. I think we left a lot of opportunities out there.
“We weren’t happy with the penalty count and the error count from us as a team, but there’s still a massively positive vibe in the squad. We’re going out on the weekend to get the right result.”
20:34John Jones
Wainwright out in hammer blow
The big story ahead of tonight’s team announcement is sadly not good for Gatland and co.
No.8 Aaron Wainwright, Wales’ talisman in recent times, has been ruled out for the next four months after tearing his hamstring. With a lengthy spell on the sidelines ahead, not only will he miss the rest of the Australia tour, he will also be absent for the start of the United Rugby Championship season.
Cardiff backrower James Botham is in line to replace him in the starting XV, while Kemsley Mathias and Cameron Winnett could replace Gareth Thomas and Liam Williams, who are also injury concerns.
Wainwright was outstanding against the Wallabies in Sydney at the weekend and his loss is a hammer blow to Wales’ chances of putting an end to their eight Test losing streak, as well as for his club side Dragons.
20:04John Jones
Welcome
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Wales’ team announcement for this Saturday’s second clash with Australia.
Our rugby correspondent Ben James will be reporting live from Melbourne, where Warren Gatland will announce his team and meet with the press ahead of the second Test.
We are expecting an announcement at around midnight tonight, so please do stick around.