Wales lost their first two games of the autumn against New Zealand and South Africa respectively before beating Fiji last Sunday. They face an Australian side who have yet to win a game on their European tour but did beat the Springboks twice in the recent Rugby Championship.
And Pivac insists it would be a big boost to his side ahead of next years Six Nations if they could end their autumn campaign on a high note.
“We’ve lost senior guys that would hurt any side,” he said. “But it’s great opportunities for guys and some have come in and done very, very well.
“That’s been a massive positive. To come up against the world champions (South Africa) in conditions that suited them, that was a huge effort from our players.
“Particularly the forward pack who are probably the most damaged in terms of loss of experience. And then to turn around and play that game against Fiji which was always a very difficult and physical opponent.
“A win is what we’re after and I think a win would make it successful. It’ll be just as physical (against Australia).
“That’s one thing any Dave Rennie side is. If you look at Glasgow with Dave, Jonathan Humphreys was his forwards coach so we’ve got some insight.
“But also, players like Gareth Anscombe played for him at the Chiefs. Very competitive at the breakdown. A lot of edge to the forward play. We’ve expecting to have a very physical encounter.”
Pivac has made seven changes to his starting XV with Josh Adams, Uilisi Halaholo, Tomos Williams, Wyn Jones, Tomas Francis, Seb Davies, and Aaron Wainwright coming into the side. Elliot Dee, Gareth Davies, Rhys Priestland, and Johnny McNicholl come on to the bench.
Wales have been hit by a heavy injury list this autumn, but Pivac is relieved to have some experience come back into the side this weekend while he is particularly excited to see Seb Davies start at second-row. “It’s been a challenging week for players and management,” said Pivac.
“It’s been three very physical matches at a time of the season where preparation probably wasn’t the best we’d have liked. They’ve put in a lot of effort in the past few weeks.
“There’s light at the end of the tunnel for the players. There’s one big match left to go. We’ve given them a good rest this week.
“Today’s the first big training day. It’s been a very short training week but we’d like to think everyone knows their roles. It’s about freshening up for one last big effort.
“Seb has been going well. We’ve asked him to do a role at No. 6. Second-row is well-known to him and he’s been training well.
“With the injury to Will Rowlands, he brings a little bit of size and experience. Young Ben will come off the bench at some stage if required and he’s been calling lineouts so if something happens to Adam Beard, he’s the natural replacement.
“We also liked what Christ Tshiunza brought to the game last week. He was full of energy, he made a heck of a lot of tackles in a short space of time.
“We think putting him out in another big game will be great for him and we’ll learn a lot more about him. He’ll learn a lot more about this level of rugby.”
