Sport : Rugby Union

WALES UNCHANGED FOR FINAL TEST

21st June 2012, 05:14am

Rob Howley: Has named the same line-up

Rob Howley: Has named the same line-up

Wales have kept faith in the side that came agonisingly close to victory in Melbourne for the final Test against Australia.

The boot of Mike Harris broke Welsh hearts as he kicked a penalty after the final hooter had sounded to snatch a 25-23 win for the Wallabies.

Wales had led for the majority of the match and they remain confident of ending their 43-year wait for a victory in Australia's own backyard in Sydney on Saturday.

Caretaker coach Rob Howley does make a solitary change on the bench, with Ken Owens, who started the first Test in Brisbane, coming in to replace Richard Hibbard.

"We know what we have to do to beat Australia, but there is a difference between knowing how to win and achieving that aim," said Howley.

"This Wales team was within around 30 seconds of beating the Wallabies on their home patch for the first time in 43 years, the challenge now is to go one better than that and make sure we are ahead on the scoreboard, not just when the hooter goes, but when the game finishes this weekend.

"The players can take some credit for the way they played for the large part of the match on Saturday, but that will be scant consolation if we don't come home with a win in this series.

"We have risen to our highest position in the IRB World rankings because of our performances so far this season, which can have positive repercussions for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, but now we want to stay there and that means coming away with the spoils on Saturday afternoon."

Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 George North, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 1 Gethin Jenkins, 2 Matthew Rees, 3 Adam Jones, 4 Bradley Davies, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 6 Dan Lydiate, 7 Sam Warburton (capt), 8 Ryan Jones.
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Luke Charteris, 19 Justin Tipuric, 20 Rhys Webb, 21 James Hook, 22 Scott Williams

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