Australia head coach Eddie Jones has named his match-day 23 to face Wales in Pool C at OL Stadium in Lyon on Sunday, 24 September. Ben Donaldson switches from full-back to fly-half, with Carter Gordon dropping to the bench and Andrew Kellaway starting in the number 15 shirt. Other changes see Tate McDermott return at scrum-half while Robert Leota starts at blindside flanker, with Tom Hooper switching to openside. Hooker David Porecki continues to captain the side in the absence of the injured Will Skelton.

1 Angus Bell 
2 David Porecki (c) 
3 James Slipper 
4 Nick Frost 
5 Richard Arnold 
6 Robert Leota 
7 Tom Hooper 
8 Rob Valetini 
9 Tate McDermott 
10 Ben Donaldson 
11 Marika Koroibete 
12 Samu Kerevi 
13 Jordan Petaia 
14 Mark Nawaqanitawase 
15 Andrew Kellaway 

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

  • Head coach Eddie Jones has made three personnel changes in his starting XV from the team beaten by Fiji in their last outing, with Rob Leota coming into the back-row, Andrew Kellaway - who will make his Rugby World Cup debut - at full-back and Tate McDermott returning at scrum-half.
  • In addition Jones has made two positional changes, with Ben Donaldson moving from full-back to fly-half and Tom Hooper switching to openside flanker to accommodate Leota, with Fraser McReight dropping to the bench. 
  • After starting at fly-half in the Wallabies' past five tests, Carter Gordon drops to the bench for the first time since their Rugby Championship loss to Argentina in Sydney.
  • Donaldson’s only previous test start at fly-half came against Wales last year, which was his starting debut for Australia. This will be the first time he has started alongside McDermott at half-back. 
  • James Slipper will equal George Gregan as Australia’s most capped Rugby World Cup player in his 20th match. He has played against Wales at each of the past three RWC tournaments, and this will be his 12th against them overall since 2010.
  • Rob Valetini is the only Wallaby to have started all seven tests this year. He has missed just 12 minutes of game-time this season, playing the full 80 minutes in six of his seven appearances. 

  • The Wallabies have just four survivors in their match-day 23 from the team who played Wales at RWC 2019, with Samu Kerevi, Nic White, Marika Koroibete, and James Slipper all named. Richie Arnold’s twin brother Rory also played that day.