Stand-in skipper Slipper reluctant to talk about Wallabies' 2023 woes ahead of 2nd Wales test

 Even after 135 test matches for Australia, including 15 as captain, veteran prop James Slipper often gets tired of answering questions about the past.

He was in that mood on Friday, a day before he'll lead the Wallabies into Saturday's second rugby test against Wales in Melbourne.

“I am really struggling to talk about last year,” Slipper said of a mostly disastrous 2023 that included the Wallabies failing to make it out of the group stage at a Rugby World Cup for the first time.

“Most rugby fans know what happened. We're obviously coming off a lean year. But we've got a new group, new staff, and we got that win last week, so the challenge for us now is to replicate it.”

That win was 25-16 at Sydney, handing Wales its eighth loss in a row. Now the Wallabies will be seeking to win consecutive matches for the first time since a five-game winning streak in 2021.

Slipper, who was Wallabies captain 10 times in 2022, will be standing in for first-test skipper Liam Wright. Australia coach Joe Schmidt said he couldn’t gamble on Wright’s fitness after the flanker injured his right shoulder and left the field in the 57th minute of the first-test win.

“I didn’t see it coming,” Slipper said of his emergency captaincy for Saturday's match. “It's pretty unfortunate for Liam to miss out. I'll just take the reins for the week.”

Schmidt is confident in Slipper's stand-in ability.

“He’ll do a great job,” said Schmidt, who took over as head coach after Eddie Jones’ tumultuous tenure ended in January. “Fantastic experience. It’s that quiet leadership we need. That quiet resolve he brings to his work will hopefully ripple through the team.”

In other Wallaby moves, Charlie Cale, the 23-year-old ACT Brumbies backrower, was given his starting debut at No. 8, moving Rob Valetini from the back to the side of the scrum to cover for Wright.

The remainder of the starting forward pack and backline was unchanged but Schmidt made multiple changes on the bench, including a potential debut for Queensland hooker Josh Nasser, son of 1991 World Cup-winner Brendan Nasser.

“It’s one of the things that we want to demonstrate — that we’re a squad-orientated group," Schmidt said.

Wales coach Warren Gatland made two injury-enforced changes and two positional changes as his team bids for a series-leveling victory.

No. 8 Aaron Wainwright and winger Josh Hathaway were ruled out after sustaining hamstring and elbow injuries in Sydney last weekend.

Gatland moved Liam Williams from fullback to wing and recalled Cameron Winnett at No. 15. Taine Plumtree shifted from the blindside flank to No. 8 to replace Wainwright, with James Botham — grandson of legendary cricketer Ian Botham — coming into the starting backrow and Mackenzie Martin called up for the bench.

“We’ve been going through our processes, building on what worked well and sharpening the areas that need improvement,” Gatland said. “We expect Australia to go up another level this weekend and we know we need to as well.”

Wales is looking to end its eight-match losing streak that began last year in the World Cup quarterfinals, continued with five losses at the Six Nations tournament and was extended to June when the Welsh lost to World Cup champions South Africa in London.

After losing last week in Sydney, the Welsh haven't beaten the Wallabies in 12 tests in Australia since 1969.

Gatland and his team are desperate to avoid the Welsh record of 10 consecutive defeats.

“It is an important game,” assistant coach Rob Howley said. “There is huge disappointment and frustration within the camp. We want to give the best version of ourselves.

“I thought we really did well to come back into the game (first test) at 18-16. We can talk about the experience and the learning, of course we can, but we need to start winning test matches."