Wales coach and fellow New Zealander Warren Gatland has thrown his support behind embattled Wallabies mentor Robbie Deans ahead of the Test between their sides at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

With Deans in charge, Gatland believes Australia’s numbing loss to Scotland last Saturday will be long forgotten by the time the 2011 Rugby World Cup comes around.

“I’ve got a huge amount of respect for Robbie and what he’s achieved in rugby and Super 14 and the successes that he’s had,” Gatland said after naming a formidable Wales line-up on Tuesday.

“I think out of the three Tri-Nations teams, they’re the team that’s played the most rugby. They’ve got a very young side that are developing.

“There’s a lot of potential there and they will gain a huge amount of experience from this northern hemisphere tour and, in two years’ time, I think you’ll see a really strong Australian side.

“They’ve been creating a lot. They haven’t been finishing things off, but they do go out and try and play rugby and play the game in a positive style.”

Gatland suspects there’ll be a sting in the Wallabies’ tail this weekend as they chase redemption in the tour-ending Test.

“Australia should never have lost that game last week,” he said.

“If that game was played 99 times out of 100 and Australia took their chances, they would have won that game. So we’re not looking too much into that.

“As a team, Australia have been quite unlucky. They could have eaily been playing for the grand slam this week.

“They were unlucky against Ireland, conceding a try in the last minute, had a chance to win against Scotland with a conversion (after fulltime).

“In my experiences with Australian teams in the past, when they’re in the situation they’re in at the moment, having taken a bit of criticism, there’s normally only one way that they come out and they come out fighting with all guns blazing.”

Gatland conceded the Kiwi in him is providing added incentive to conjure another victory over Australia after Wales scored a 21-18 win in the corresponding fixture last year.

“All of us want to beat the Australians,” he said. “That’s a respect that everyone has for Australian sport.

“Because in all sports, if you look at the population of Australia, they’re the greatest overachievers in world sport with the success they’ve had, not just in rugby but any sport they’ve put their mind to.

“They’ve been incredibly successful and I have a huge amount of admiration for what Australia as a country has achieved in all sports they enter.

“That’s why we expect such a tough contest. And that’s why it doesn’t matter what sport, if you play an Australian side and you chalk up a victory, it does mean a lot.”

In his only change to the starting side from last Saturday’s 33-16 win over World Cup semi-finalists Argentina, Gatland recalled experienced halfback Dwayne Peel and dropped Gareth Cooper altogether from the 22-man squad.

Wales: James Hook, Leigh Halfpenny, Jamie Roberts, Jonathan Davies, Shane Williams, Stephen Jones, Dwayne Peel, Ryan Jones (capt), Martyn Williams, Andy Powell, Luke Charteris, Alun-Wyn Jones, Paul James, Matthew Rees, Gethin Jenkins. Reserves: Huw Bennett, Duncan Jones, Jonathan Thomas, Dan Lydiate, Martin Roberts, Andrew Bishop, Tom James

© AAP 2012

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