Dave Rennie promised changes for the Test against Italy in Florence, and true to his word they will come thick and fast with the Wallabies coach already casting one eye on their clash with Ireland.
In what shapes as a banana skin, must-win clash against the 12th ranked side in the world, Rennie will give captain James Slipper a spell and hand over the leadership responsibilities to the fit-again Allan Alaalatoa.
Alaalatoa, 28, missed the heartbreaking 30-29 loss to France because of concussion, where Taniela Tupou was promoted to the starting side and had his best Test in the No.3 jersey.
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But with Slipper missing, the Brumbies tight-head prop has been rushed back into the side.
Alaalatoa has long been considered captaincy material and has led the Brumbies with distinction for years.
A hard-working prop, he may well have been given the captaincy when Michael Hooper withdrew ahead of the Rugby Championship were it not for the unbelievable potential of Tupou.
He has a giant task of ensuring the Wallabies are sharp out of the blocks against Italy, who snapped their seven-year Six Nations drought against Wales in March and smashed Samoa 49-17 last weekend.
Back in 2006 the Wallabies travelled to Rome and were expected to put a cricket score on Italy.
They left with a narrow victory, coming from behind at half-time to win 25-18.
While John Connolly experimented with Matt Giteau at halfback, the former Wallabies coach still had a star-studded side including captain Stirling Mortlock, Stephen Larkham, George Smith, Nathan Sharpe and Chris Latham.
Rennie’s side is expected to be considerably less experienced, with the New Zealand coach likely to favour youth in the starting side.
Already Rennie has flagged Will Skelton and halfback Jake Gordon starting.
While the third-year international coach, who approaches the Test with a winning percentage of 38.7, could also turn to others like fly-half Noah Lolesio, winger Mark Nawaqanitawase and Fraser McReight given the match perhaps represents the only opportunity to experiment with Tests against Ireland and Wales to follow.
“We’ll definitely make changes next week,” said Rennie after their one-point loss at the Stade de France.
“I’ve talked about sharing the load. Playing five tests against Six Nations sides in consecutive weeks is pretty demanding.
“We want to utilize squad and give guys opportunities to impress.
“But we’re not going to do anything that doesn’t respect Italy. They had an excellent win and we’re well aware of their ability.
“We’re also looking big picture. We’re going to Ireland the following week and Wales the week after that, and we need to utilize the whole squad.”
Just how Rennie configures his bench will be fascinating because with the Test a must-win, turning to youth to finish the job is littered with danger.
Last weekend Rennie was criticised for replacing Bernard Foley at the death and bringing on Reece Hodge.
There was logic to the madness, with Hodge a longer kicker and stronger defender, but the utility back shanked a kick and failed to clear another too.
While the Wallabies are heavy favourites, they have made life hell for supporters by losing matches they are expected to win.
That cannot occur for Rennie otherwise any hope of a contract extension will be off the table – if it isn’t already.
