Wales must first get to grips with Giteau

WALES v AUSTRALIA:DAN CARTER last week, Matt Giteau today - even for a country that salivates at the mere mention of world-class outhalves it is a rich diet, but one which Wales will have to digest this afternoon if European rugby is to escape the autumn with any kind of face left to save.

With Tri-Nations sides having won all nine games played against Six Nations sides so far and New Zealand expected to beat England, Australia arrive at the Millennium Stadium short-odds to complete the sweep and strengthen the hold of the Southern Hemisphere on the top three seedings for the 2011 World Cup.

If there is any good news, it is that Wales are probably best placed to upset the bookies. After a strong second-half performance against South Africa, the Grand Slam champions are still spitting feathers at letting the world champions off the hook.

They were also pretty satisfied with their first 40 minutes against the All Blacks, before pace and power took the game away. The feeling in the camp is that if they can string 80 minutes together then they will beat Australia for the first time in three years.

First, though, as coach Warren Gatland and outhalf Stephen Jones admitted, they have to get to grips with Giteau, the man who undermined England with 20 points, to go with the 17 he scored against Italy and who pulled Australian fat from the fire in Paris last week with two penalties and a conversion.

"He's brilliant," said Jones, the Scarlets outhalf. "He can play anywhere along the back-line comfortably, he's got a great kicking game and runs things very well."

Jones has been around long enough to have earned 74 caps and played six Tests against the Australians. "Giteau's at the centre of everything for Australia - he pulls the strings."

Against the All Blacks, Wales managed to keep a lid on Carter, and Gatland says he has similar plans for this week. "We did a lot of work last week (on Carter) and it will be the same sort of approach this week in terms of trying to shut down Matt's game," he said.

Also critical will be the way in which the Welsh pack copes with the increasing strength and technique of the Australia scrum.

Last Saturday, the Wallabies won their first game in the French capital for eight years, but the Australian scrum suffered the indignity of giving up a penalty try.

The Welsh, with a long-shot chance of jumping to fourth in the world pecking-order, will hope to show just how much more work the visitors still have to do.

Guardian Service