LAST UPDATE | 22 Sep 2023

WALES CO-CAPTAIN AND and hooker Dewi Lake has missed out on a place in Wales’ matchday 23 for the World Cup clash against Australia on Sunday.

Head coach Warren Gatland has named the same team that defeated Fiji 12 days ago, with Ryan Elias starting at hooker in a side skippered by flanker Jac Morgan.

Elliot Dee provides cover for Elias on the bench, while lock Adam Beard will win his 50th cap as Wales target a victory that would secure an impressive fourth successive World Cup quarter-final appearance.

There is also a spot among the replacements for former England prop Henry Thomas, who is on course to make his Wales World Cup debut.

Morgan, wing Louis Rees-Zammit and number eight Taulupe Faletau are the only three players named who will have started all of Wales’ Pool C games so far.

Flanker Tommy Reffell, a late withdrawal due to a tight calf muscle before Wales faced Portugal last weekend, also misses out, with Taine Basham providing back-row bench cover.

Wales have lost five of their previous seven World Cup meetings against Australia, but they will start as favourites in Lyon.

• Wales: 15. Liam Williams 14. Louis Rees-Zammit 13. George North 12. Nick Tompkins 11. Josh Adams 10. Dan Biggar 9. Gareth Davies 1. Gareth Thomas 2. Ryan Elias 3. Tomas Francis 4. Will Rowlands 5. Adam Beard (Ospreys) 6. Aaron Wainwright 7. Jac Morgan 8. Taulupe Faletau.

• Replacements: 16. Elliot Dee 17. Corey Domachowski 18. Henry Thomas 19. Dafydd Jenkins 20. Taine Basham 21. Tomos Williams, 22. Gareth Anscombe, 23. Rio Dyer (Dragons).

Australia head coach Eddie Jones on Friday picked Ben Donaldson to start at out-half with Tate McDermott returning from concussion to partner him in the half-backs.

Rob Leota comes into the back row in place of Fraser McReight while Andrew Kellaway lines up at full-back as Jones makes three personnel changes from the team that lost 22-15 to Fiji last week.

Hooker David Porecki continues to captain the side in the absence of injured lock Will Skelton.

Hooker Matt Faessler replaces Jordan Uelese on the bench while tighthead prop Pone Fa’amausili gets the nod over Zane Nonggorr.

• Australia (v Wales): 15. Andrew Kellaway; 14. Mark Nawaqanitawase, 13. Jordan Petaia, 12. Samu Kerevi, 11. Marika Koroibete; 10. Ben Donaldson, 9. Tate McDermott; 8. Rob Valetini, 7. Tom Hooper, 6. Rob Leota; 5. Will Richie Arnold, 4. Nick Frost; 3. James Slipper, 2. David Porecki (capt), 1. Angus Bell.

• Replacements: 16. Matt Faessler, 17. Blake Schoupp, 18. Pone Fa’amausili, 19. Matt Philip, 20. Fraser McReight, 21. Nic White, 22. Carter Gordon, 23. Vunivalu.

In Ireland’s Pool B, meanwhile, Scotland coach Gregor Townsend has made four changes to his starting XV for their second match against Tonga in Nice on Sunday.

Prop Rory Sutherland and second row Scott Cummings come into the pack for Pierre Schoeman and Grant Gilchrist respectively, while centre Chris Harris and wing Kyle Steyn start in the backline, with Huw Jones and Darcy Graham dropping to the bench.

Ewan Ashman, Sam Skinner and George Horne also come into the matchday 23.

Scotland kicked off their World Cup campaign with a disappointing 18-3 defeat by defending champions South Africa.

After playing Tonga, who went down 59-16 to Ireland in their opener, Scotland then take on lowly Romania in Lille on 30 September before wrapping up pool play against the Irish in Paris on 7 October.

Townsend said the players were champing at the bit to play again.

“For the players, after a defeat you want to be able to play again straight away,” he said. “As coaches, maybe (it’s the same).

“We’ve been able to train hard, we’ve had social time with the families, we feel we’re further ahead having had those moments on and off the field.”

Townsend added: “Time’s a good healer. We didn’t meet to talk about rugby until the Wednesday night or Thursday morning. By that time, the result isn’t as raw or fresh in the players’ minds.

“The response we’ve had in training has been excellent. The players are in a really good space physically and you can see the determination that they want to play better this time.”

The former Scotland and British and Irish Lion said he had picked his strongest team for a must-win match.

“We know this is a really important game for us so we’ve put as strong a team as we can to win it,” he said.

“The last 20 minutes are going to be important so to have players like Darcy Graham, Huw Jones and George Horne coming off the bench will give us something different.”

• Scotland (v Tonga): 15. Blair Kinghorn; 14. Kyle Steyn, 13. Chris Harris, 12. Sione Tuipulotu, 11. Duhan van der Merwe; 10. Finn Russell, 9. Ben White; 8. Jack Dempsey, 7. Rory Darge, 6. Jamie Ritchie (capt); 5. Scott Cummings, 4. Richie Gray; 3. Zander Fagerson, 2. George Turner, 1. Rory Sutherland.

• Replacements: 16. Ewan Ashman, 17. Pierre Schoeman, 18. WP Nel, 19. Sam Skinner, 20. Matt Fagerson, 21. George Horne, 22. Huw Jones, 23. Darcy Graham.