Ewen McKenzie has made three changes to the side that beat Scotland last weekend, with the return of Adam Ashley-Cooper to outside centre and Nick Cummins on the wing, with Christian Leali’ifano shifting to inside centre.
Cooper will lead Australia out at the Millennium Stadium and becomes just the 40th Wallaby to reach the milestone.
It comes at the end of a turnaround season for the maverick playmaker, who was handed the Wallabies vice-captaincy earlier this year.
“To get to 50 games is an outstanding achievement and it’s fitting that he reaches the milestone at the end of a really good individual season,” said McKenzie.
“He has really enjoyed the responsibility of playing at 10 for Australia. He is a very proud guy and proud of his involvement. This team is very important to him and I’m personally quite pleased for him.
“He’s continually improving both on and off the field and definitely isn’t the finished article, which is promising.
“But, he won’t be too caught up in the milestone externally, his focus will be on how he fits into the team and his responsibility of managing this game.”
The Wallabies have named an unchanged forward pack for the third week in a row and McKenzie has called on his side to finish their season on a high.
“We’re treating this week a little bit like our Grand Final, so it’s pleasing to bring in some big game players with a lot of experience,” added McKenzie.
“I think everyone will be extremely motivated by the circumstances of the game and the opportunity to play Wales in their backyard. For us to finish on a high would be good reward for a lot of the hard work being done.
“There has been a lot of change and different things happening, so for the guys to push through that has been terrific.
“We are trying to be a consistent side which can come up with answers no matter what the circumstance or environment.
“We are enjoying playing in big venues in front of hostile crowds, but being consistent in that space is where we want to be.
“Our journey at the moment is around that and four wins in a row to end the season would be fantastic.”Â
Australia: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Joe Tomane, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Christian Leali’ifano, 11 Nick Cummins, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Ben Mowen (c), 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 James Horwill, 4 Rob Simmonds, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 James Slipper
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Benn Robinson, 18 Ben Alexander, 19 Kane Douglas, 20 Dave Dennis, 21 Nic White, 22 Mike Harris, 23 Bernard Foley
