Wales v Australia: Rugby World Cup 2023 match preview, team news, kick-off time & Pool C standings

There is a lot at stake for Wales and Australia in Lyon on Sunday evening.

Wales will book a place in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals if they beat Australia. They are guaranteed to progress with a third successive Pool C win, but the Wallabies will be on the brink of elimination if they lose.

Bonus-point victories over Fiji and Portugal mean Wales are currently in charge of their pool.

If they defeat Australia it will be a case of mission accomplished in terms of reaching the quarter-finals for a fourth World Cup in a row under head coach Warren Gatland.

Gatland's team can get the job done with a game to spare - they face Georgia in Nantes on October 7 - by beating the Wallabies and setting up a potential last-eight appointment with England or Argentina.

Australia have an outstanding World Cup record which is under threat. In nine previous editions of the competition they can reflect on two world titles, two runners-up finishes, a third and fourth-place return, plus three quarter-final appearances.

A first pool-stage exit now looms, though, as they bid to recover from losing to Fiji last weekend and topple Wales.

Head coach and former England boss Eddie Jones has received fierce criticism from ex-internationals, but the storm will rage if Wales leave them teetering on the brink of elimination. Australia have effectively reached a point of no return.

Wales and Australia team news

Wales captain Jac Morgan scores against Australia in November 2022

Gatland has named the same team that defeated Fiji with Ryan Elias starting at hooker in a side skippered by flanker Jac Morgan.

Wales co-captain and hooker Dewi Lake has missed out on a place in Wales' matchday 23, while lock Adam Beard will win his 50th cap.

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

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

• Warren Gatland reverts to Fiji XV for Wallabies showdown

Ben Donaldson is selected at fly-half for Australia after he started the opening two World Cup games at full-back.

Donaldson is handed the 10 jersey after Carter Gordon was taken off early in the second half of the 22-15 defeat by Fiji. Squad vice-captain and scrum-half Tate McDermott returns, but hooker David Porecki is retained as captain.

There are three changes in personnel, with flanker Rob Leota starting instead of Fraser McReight and Tom Hooper switching to open-side. Captain Will Skelton and prop Taniela Tupou are missing through injury.

View from Wales camp

Wales head coach Warren Gatland: "We're happy with our position going into this game. There's a confidence among this group and we've had a good edge to training this week.

"Every game in the World Cup is tough, the stakes are high, and this will be no different. Australia have talented players and we know they will want to come out and put in a performance.

"Against Australia we know we have to take our chances and put them under as much pressure as possible. If we play the way we know we can and maintain that for 80 minutes, we will be a very hard team to beat.

"They're going to be desperate, we're desperate as well. I expect us to win on Sunday."

Warren Gatland's Wales take on Eddie Jones' Australia in one of the key pool fixtures at the Rugby World Cup on Sunday

View from Australia camp

Australia head coach Eddie Jones: "The way the team's prepared and come together, I've got no doubt we'll win on Sunday.

"Every team has matches like this during a World Cup and for this young team it is this week. We've prepared well and we'll be ready to fight on Sunday night.

"We've got an opportunity to show whether we can grind out to get the result we need to get and I'm confident we can."

• Eddie Jones has 'no doubt' Wallabies will win World Cup match

Wales v Australia line-ups

Wales: L Williams; Rees-Zammit, North, Tompkins, Adams; Biggar, G Davies; G Thomas, Elias, Francis, Rowlands, Beard, Wainwright, Morgan (capt), Faletau.

Replacements: Dee, Domachowski, H Thomas, D Jenkins, Basham, T Williams, Anscombe, Dyer.

Australia: Kellaway; Nawaqanitawase, Petaia, Kerevi, Koroibete; Donaldson, McDermott; Bell, Porecki (capt), Slipper, Frost, Arnold, Leota, T Hooper, Valetini.

Replacements: Faessler, Schoupp, Fa'amausili, Philip, McReight, White, Gordon, Vunivalu.

Match officials

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

Touch judges: Luke Pearce (England) & Christopher Ridley (England)

TMO: Tom Foley (England)

Pool C standings and permutations

Wales' destiny is in their hands as they need a maximum of seven points from two more games to guarantee winning the group.

If Wales defeat Australia they will secure quarter-final qualification by definitely finishing in the top two in the pool.

A win would take Wales to 14 points with only Fiji able to overhaul them and Georgia, Australia and Portugal not able to surpass that total.

A defeat by Australia and not picking up a losing bonus point would mean Wales' fate being taken out of their hands as the pool stage progresses.

Bonus points could be crucial for qualification. They are awarded for scoring four tries and finishing within seven points of the opposition. Teams are awarded four points for a win, while a draw yields two points.

Wales want to finish within three match points of Australia to maintain their own destiny.

The Wallabies will not officially be eliminated from the tournament if they lose to Wales but they will be on the brink.

They would need a series of results, including potentially Wales defeating Georgia and Georgia beating Fiji, to have a chance of progressing.

If teams finish on the same amount of match points at the end of the group stages, it will depend on a series of criteria.

That starts with head-to-head results before points difference, try difference, points scored and tries scored, in that order, come into play.

Match facts

Wales v Australia head-to-head

• Australia have won 31 out of 45 games with Wales who have 13 victories with one draw.

• Wales have won three of their last four Test matches against Australia who triumphed in the last meeting in November 2022.

• Fifteen of the last 16 Test matches between Wales and Australia have been decided by margins of nine points or fewer.

• This will be the eighth meeting between Wales and Australia at the Rugby World Cup and and the fifth consecutive edition they've faced each other. The Wallabies have won five of the previous seven meetings between the sides.

Wales

• Wales have won 12 of their last 13 matches in the World Cup pool stages with their only defeat in that run coming against Australia in 2015 at Twickenham.

• This sequence includes victories in each of their last six pool stage matches ,they've never won seven in a row at this stage of the tournament.

• Wales have won four games out of 10 in 2023 during Warren Gatland's second stint in charge

Australia

• Australia have won 30 of their 34 World Cup pool stage matches.

• Following defeat by Fiji, Australia will be aiming to avoid losing back-to back matches at this stage of the tournament for the first time.

• Australia have lost six of their seven Test matches in 2023.