Australia's injury problems are continuing ahead of Saturday’s first Test against the British and Irish Lions in Brisbane, with influential forwards Will Skelton and Rob Valetini failing to recover from injury.
Both players missed the Wallabies’ win against Fiji a fortnight ago with calf issues and haven’t been cleared to return, although Joe Schmidt insists the pair will be fit for the second Test in Melbourne, as will flanker Langi Gleeson, who picked up a dead leg.
"If it was the last game of the series, I think they would have been in the mix," the former Ireland head coach said of Skelton and Valetini.
"But the risk you take if you put those guys out there and they're not quite ready and you try to push them through, you might end up worse off. I wouldn't say we're taking a long-term view with them, but we just felt it was the most judicious decision at the time."
With Valetini and Gleeson out of the back row, Schmidt has given a debut to Western Force back row Nick Champion de Crespigny (below).
The 29-year-old is named among four changes from the side that defeated the Fijians 21-18, and Schmidt believes he will blend well in a back row alongside Fraser McReight and captain Harry Wilson.
He said: "The good thing with Nick, he's a good lineout option. I thought he was very good in the Force lineout. He is probably a bit more of a roving scavenger than Bobby V [Valetini], who in the past has been a big ball-carrier for us.
"He'll compliment Fraser in that respect. And it probably puts a little bit more onus on Harry Wilson to fulfil the ball-carry role. And, at the same time, I do think that Fraser and Nick can help me out with that.
"And with Carlo [Tizzano] coming off the bench, Tom Hooper off the bench, they're another couple of guys who carry really well for us."
The other big call in the Wallabies side comes at out-half, where Tom Lynagh is given the 10 shirt in the absence of Noah Lolesio.
The 22-year-old will make his first start for the Wallabies on his fourth cap, and follows in the footsteps of his father Michael, who also started for the Wallabies against the Lions at out-half in 1989.
"I'm really excited for Tom. He's a great kid," Schmidt (below) added.
"I'm confident in him and I guess that's part of it. It's a stadium he knows really well, it's a piece of grass that he's been on and been across many, many times. So I think that will just help him settle into his game.
"If he can settle early, hopefully he can get a rhythm that allows him to dictate the game to a degree.
"We know there's going to be times where we're not going to be in enough control to dictate the game. But as I said, he's very brave defensively, very competent in the air.
"So whatever does get thrown at Tom, I am confident that he'll cope and I'm very confident that he'll learn from the occasion.
"And it may be that he has to learn quickly because of the magnitude of the game and the quality of the opposition."
Jake Gordon comes in at scrum-half to partner Lynagh, with Tate McDermott dropping to the bench, as Schmidt opts for a new half-back partnership to take on Andy Farrell's side, which contains eight starters from Ireland.
Veteran props James Slipper and Alan Ala’alatoa both start, with Matt Faessler coming in at hooker, while the Wallabies retain their second row partnership from the win against Fiji, Nick Frost paired with Jeremy Williams.
The experienced Len Ikitau and 21-year-old Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii will combine in the Wallabies midfield for the fifth time, while Harry Potter and Max Jorgensen will feature on the wings.
Tom Wright has been named at full-back for the 14th time in the Wallabies’ last 15 Test matches.
Australia: Tom Wright; Max Jorgensen, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Len Ikitau, Harry Potter; Tom Lynagh, Jake Gordon; James Slipper, Matt Faessler, Alan Ala’alatoa; Nick Frost, Jeremy Williams; Nick Champion de Crespigny, Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson (capt).
Replacements: Billy Pollard, Angus Bell, Tom Robertson, Tom Hooper, Carlo Tizzano, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson, Andrew Kellaway.
British and Irish Lions: Hugo Keenan; Tommy Freeman, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, James Lowe; Finn Russell, Jamison Gibson-Park; Ellis Genge, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong; Maro Itoje, Joe McCarthy; Tadhg Beirne, Tom Curry, Jack Conan.
Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Andrew Porter, Will Stuart, Ollie Chessum, Ben Earl, Alex Mitchell, Marcus Smith, Bundee Aki.
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