Taine Plumtree moves to No. 8 as Wales continue their quest for a first win against the Wallabies on Australian soil in 55 years.
Plumtree makes the switch from blindside after Aaron Wainwright was ruled out of the remainder of the tour Down Under because of a hamstring injury sustained in last week’s first Test in Sydney.
There are four changes (two of them positional) to the starting line-up for the second clash of the series at AAMI Park in Melbourne on Saturday (10:45 BST).
Plumtree’s positional move sees James Botham come in to wear the No.6 jersey, while the other change is in the back three with Cameron Winnett named at full-back and Liam Williams switching to the right wing in place of the injured Josh Hathaway (elbow).
Once again, three Scarlets are named among the replacements – Kemsley Mathias, Harri O’Connor and Sam Costelow.
Head coach Warren 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 XV to face Australia | Tîm Cymru i wynebu Awstralia
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)