Warren Gatland played down Wales's recent poor record against Australia and his side's capacity to find different ways of losing close encounters, but there will be no consolation in defeat at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday with 11 of the home team members of the successful Lions' squad Down Under this year.
Gatland wasted no time in recalling his most lethal finisher, the wing Alex Cuthbert, who was not expected to return from an ankle injury for another two weeks, and he resisted his inclination to play Rhys Priestland at outside-half, opting for the in-form Dan Biggar, whose kicking game is more likely to minimise the counter-attacking threat of Israel Folau.
Gatland has had enough of hard luck stories, Kurtley Beale's try at the death in this fixture 12 months ago doing to Wales what New Zealand's Ryan Crotty did to Ireland in Dublin on Saturday. In Wales's last three defeats against Australia, a total of five points have separated the sides.
"Southern hemisphere sides never give in, as I know from my experience as a player," said Gatland, a New Zealander. "You fight until your last breath and I have tried to bring that into the squads I have worked with. We are in great shape physically, we have a strong squad and now it is about getting the last one per cent right.
"In the past, we have used the autumn internationals as a preparation for the Six Nations because it is a tournament, our bread and butter, and these are friendlies. Our focus has changed and we have targeted doing better this month than we have in the past. Australia are in our World Cup group, but that has no relevance this weekend because of the water that will have flowed under the bridge by then."
Gatland said his players would go into the game with confidence, but not because many of them were part of the Lions' first successful tour for 16 years. He pointed out that the Wallabies were markedly different now, not least because Ewen McKenzie has replaced Robbie Deans as head coach, scoring more tries and conceding fewer.
"We have confidence in our ability," he said. "Australia have some key players absent and they will be quite different to what we have faced in the past. Ewen is putting his mark on the team, with discipline a massive part of what he is trying to do, and I respect him for that. It is good to see Quade Cooper back and if they continue to move forward, they could be contenders in 2015. They have quality, but so do we."
Cuthbert, the leading try scorer in this year's Six Nations, was told he had no prospect of playing in any of this month's internationals when he suffered a hairline fracture while on duty for Cardiff Blues, but a vigorous rehabilitation programme allowed him to defy medical opinion.
"I am a few weeks ahead of schedule and it has been hard work," he said. "I have not trained that much, but I am confident adrenaline and playing in front of a passionate crowd will see me through the 80 minutes. Australia have won their last few games comfortably, but this is a chance for us to beat a big Southern hemisphere team and go into the Six Nations with confidence."
Wales started the month with a typically narrow defeat to South Africa in a bruising encounter that saw four of their players injured in the first half. Ten of that starting XV will line up against the Wallabies with changes made in every area except the back row, where Dan Lydiate has seen off the strong challenge of Justin Tipuric.
Australia name their team . Christian Leali'ifano will take the kicks at goal after an uncharacteristically wayward evening at Murrayfield last weekend, when his misses turned what should have been a comfortable win into a tense finish.
"I was really disappointed with my kicking, relieved it did not cost the team," he said. "The playing surface was not good, but there could be no excuses. I have to do better on Saturday because our games against Wales tend to come down to small margins and with Leigh Halfpenny in their team, we have to concede fewer penalties than in other matches this tour, limiting his opportunities."
