Wayne Pivac's future as Wales coach looks like hinging on the clash with Australia on Saturday.
Some believe his fate is already sealed amid speculation the Welsh Rugby Union should go after a new man to lead the side into World Cup battle after a horror year which has seen Wales lose eight out of 11 Tests and embarrassingly crash at home to Georgia and Italy.
However, Pivac will want his team to come out fighting with victory over a Wallabies team shorn of around 40 players who are injured or unavailable.
READ MORE: Players still behind me, insists Pivac
Will Wales get the victory they so desperately need? Our writers predict the outcome of the game.
Skyscraper high stakes for Pivac - Mark Orders
The stakes are skyscraper high for Pivac and his players. Defeat would sink Wales deeper into the hole in which they have spent much of this autumn.
Maybe it would cost some players their places in the national pecking order in World Cup year. There’s every chance it would finish off Pivac as Wales coach, assuming no decision has already been taken on that front.
Australia’s injury and unavailability list is so bad it wouldn’t have surprised if the squad’s bus driver had been asked to pack down for his one. Among those missing are Will Skelton, Bernard Foley, Nic White, Samu Kerevi, Michael Hooper, Quade Cooper and James O’Connor — there are lots of others of high quality who are absent too.
The pressure is on Wales to win, then. Hopefully from a Welsh perspective, they will have been able to find an attacking game in the days that have followed the loss to Georgia.
They should certainly be desperate, and sometimes a highly motivated side can get the job done on raw determination alone. Wales have been so inconsistent it’s hard to say with certainty what will be dished up.
But they should dispatch a side as majorly depleted as Australia are on Saturday. No Wallabies team can be written off, but Wales ought to have too much experience up front and a bit too much polish and know-how at half-back.
A win with a bit of style would potentially help Pivac. A defeat — well, let’s just say a defeat would not guarantee the coach a decent night’s sleep on Saturday night.
Wales 28-22 Australia
Injury-hit Wallabies to sneak it - Ben James
There should be a response from Wales after last week. There simply has to be one.
But despite the fact I expect Wales to front up and Australia are decimated by injuries, I still expect the Wallabies to sneak it.
Even if Wales start well, their best hope of a win is an arm wrestle - this side simply don't have it in them to take games away from the opposition.
But the downside of that is that, barring implosion or just a complete off-day, I don't think the Wallabies will be out of the fight.
Even with a backline that few in the Principality Stadium would be able to reel off, a bit of decent ball movement can still hurt this Welsh defence.
And if the game is tight in the final quarter, the ghosts of last week might still be there to haunt Wales again. Closing out a nailbiter is a true test of where confidence in camp currently is.
Australia have never lost four in a row against Wales. Somehow, I expect them to keep that record intact this weekend.
Wales 20-21 Australia
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So hard to call - Simon Thomas
I’m finding this a hard one to call. Australia defeated Scotland up in Murrayfield and were then unfortunate to leave empty handed in narrow defeats to the world’s top two, Ireland and France.
But they are absolutely ravaged by injuries and the last time they dug deep into their squad on this tour, against Italy, they came unstuck.
As for Wales, who knows what to expect after the wild fluctuations of this year. There is bags of experience on board, with no fewer than 10 Lions in the 23, but the side looked strong for the Georgia game too and we know what happened there.
It points to a pretty close contest and who wants it more with the two teams badly in need of a win. As such, we should find out quite a bit, as the Welsh team are very much playing for their coach’s job.
On paper, they should have the quality to get the job done against a deeply depleted Aussie side. On paper…
Wales 23-22 Australia
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