{"id":291272,"date":"2023-09-19T18:35:38","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T18:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/?p=291272"},"modified":"2023-09-19T18:35:38","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T18:35:38","slug":"wales-relishing-massive-world-cup-clash-with-crisis-hit-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/rugby-union\/wales-relishing-massive-world-cup-clash-with-crisis-hit-australia\/","title":{"rendered":"Wales relishing &apos;massive&apos; World Cup clash with crisis-hit Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Wales primed for &#8216;massive&#8217; showdown with crisis-hit Australia at Rugby World Cup &#8211; as Warren Gatland&#8217;s &#8216;band of brothers&#8217; have banished the chaos of Six Nations\u00a0<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Wales have a perfect 10 points from their opening two games<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Australia on the brink of World Cup exit after shock defeat by Fiji on Sunday\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Latest Rugby World Cup 2023 news, including fixtures, live scores and results<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It is not often Welsh rugby \u2013 a sporting landscape so often dominated by off-field carnage \u2013 is in the enviable position of looking at their opposition and justifiably saying the problems lie elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>But, with the countdown now underway to Warren Gatland\u2019s side taking on Australia in a crunch World Cup clash on Sunday, it is indeed Eddie Jones\u2019 Wallabies who are the ones with all the issues.<\/p>\n<p>Gatland\u2019s \u2018band of brothers\u2019 have a perfect 10 points from their opening two games in France and, apart from a few bumps and bruises, no serious injuries. The chaos of the Six Nations has gone.<\/p>\n<p>Australia, meanwhile, have lost their two best forwards in captain Will Skelton and prop Taniela Tupou for the game in Lyon which is one they must win after losing to Fiji.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018They\u2019re like a band of brothers and have been since we met up at the end of May,\u2019 Wales attack coach Alex King said of Gatland\u2019s squad. \u2018It\u2019s a massive game, let\u2019s not shy away from that.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/19\/18\/75605461-0-image-a-14_1695143640737.jpg\" height=\"363\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Wales head coach\u00a0Warren Gatland (above) has banished the chaos of the Six Nations<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Tournament rugby is about winning.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Indeed it is.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A Wales victory would send them through to the quarter-finals and if not mathematically, virtually send Australia home.<\/p>\n<p>Such a scenario would represent abject humiliation for Jones and his Wallabies.<\/p>\n<p>Australia on Tuesday switched up their training schedule for the week on the back of a physical battering in their defeat by Fiji. The Wallabies had no slated media access.<\/p>\n<p>But that didn\u2019t stop Jones from appearing on a sponsored podcast with the Evening Standard in which he commented on Gatland\u2019s approach.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Warren\u2019s done a great job,\u2019 Jones said. \u2018He\u2019s got them playing that Wazza-ball \u2013 a very distinctive, strong defensive, high kicking game. They play a lot off (Dan) Biggar who is still a very good player.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Unlike Australia, what Wales have done in France to date is win.<\/p>\n<p>Gatland\u2019s side started their preparations for Australia at their training base in Versailles on the outskirts of Paris on Tuesday. Wales are hopeful forwards Tommy Reffell and Henry Thomas will be fit for this weekend after struggles with calf and hamstring problems respectively.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/19\/18\/75509621-0-Wales_No_8_Taulupe_Faletau_powered_over_to_seal_a_bonus_point_wi-a-17_1695143779557.jpg\" height=\"415\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Gatland\u2019s \u2018band of brothers\u2019 have a perfect 10 points from opening two World Cup games\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Reffell was a late withdrawal from the 28-8 Portugal victory. He trained separately to Wales\u2019 main group alongside Jac Morgan and Nicky Smith with a focus on upper body conditioning. It was no surprise or concern that co-captain Morgan was resting his legs.<\/p>\n<p>He was man of the match and played the full 80 minutes against Portugal as a late replacement for Reffell having done fitness and weights sessions on the morning of the game because he was not scheduled to be involved in the 23 at all. Morgan is likely to captain the team against Australia. Prop Thomas did train but full-back Leigh Halfpenny was absent.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018He&#8217;s nursing a little leg injury and he&#8217;s being assessed,\u2019 King said of Reffell. \u2018We&#8217;ll know more in the next couple of days. Leigh is the same. A lot of guys have their own personal programmes a day or two after games depending on their needs.<\/p>\n<p>\u2019Gatland and Jones are no strangers to each other. Australia were blown away by Fiji physically in their 22-15 loss in Pool C.<\/p>\n<p>Wales, who are supremely well conditioned, will surely have taken note.The injuries suffered by Skelton and Tupou are hugely significant given they rob Jones of his two most powerful forwards. Former Saracen Skelton brings huge ballast at lock.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, with Australia lacking power ahead of this weekend, Jones has admitted he will have to think of new tactical approaches to get the better of his old adversary Gatland.<\/p>\n<p>Of Australia, King added: \u2018They&#8217;re a good team and coached well. They&#8217;re a proud team.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018They&#8217;ll be hurting a little bit after the weekend. We understand that it&#8217;s pretty much do or die for them.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/19\/18\/75574145-0-Jones_apologised_after_Australia_were_soundly_beaten_by_Fiji_in_-a-15_1695143700374.jpg\" height=\"422\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Australia on the brink of World Cup exit after shock defeat by Fiji in Saint-Etienne on Sunday<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/19\/18\/75533687-0-Wallabies_head_coach_Eddie_Jones_accepted_the_blame_after_Sunday-a-16_1695143706231.jpg\" height=\"432\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Wallabies head coach Eddie Jones accepted the blame after Sunday&#8217;s disastrous defeat by\u00a0Fiji<\/p>\n<p>\u2019On Gatland, King said: \u2018I played under him at Wasps and we had some big European games. This is his fifth World Cup. He understands when to push the players and coaches and when to pull back. He\u2019s a very experienced coach and it\u2019s great for us to have him around. Warren\u2019s been there and done it whether it\u2019s European Cups, Six Nations or Lions tours.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It tends to go alright. I\u2019m glad he\u2019s in our camp.<\/p>\n<p>\u2019Elsewhere, hosts France have named a close-to-first-choice side for their round three clash with minnows Namibia in Marseille on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Les Bleus head coach Fabien Galthie saw his second string struggle to inch past Uruguay and has recalled his big guns including captain Antoine Dupont and fit again centre and prop Jonathan Danty and Cyril Baille. Key forward Gregory Alldritt is rested.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/rugbyunion\/article-12536773\/Wales-primed-massive-showdown-crisis-hit-Australia-Rugby-World-Cup-Warren-Gatlands-band-brothers-banished-chaos-Six-Nations.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wales primed for &#8216;massive&#8217; showdown with crisis-hit Australia at Rugby World Cup &#8211; as Warren Gatland&#8217;s &#8216;band of brothers&#8217; have banished the chaos of Six Nations\u00a0 Wales have a perfect 10 points from their opening two games Australia on the brink of World Cup exit after shock defeat by Fiji on Sunday\u00a0 Latest Rugby World&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291271,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Wales relishing &amp;apos;massive&amp;apos; 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