Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has responded to Australia's humiliation by Argentina, dumping scrum-half Jake Gordon and replacing him with Nic White for the Bledisloe Cup opener in Sydney.
As first revealed by ESPN on Wednesday, Gordon and fellow halves partner Ben Donaldson have been banished from the matchday 23 to face the All Blacks, with Noah Lolesio returning to the No. 10 jersey after he missed the 40-point Santa Fe hammering through injury.
"Getting back from Santa Fe, that took its toll that game, there was a few boys that were a little bit ill and a little bit rundown, and Nick hadn't played, he was the freshest and we just felt making an early decision in the week to go with Nick [was the way to go]," Schmidt told reporters on Thursday afternoon.
"He has great leadership -- all the 9s have great leadership, they've all at some stage been skipper of their Super Rugby side -- so Nick was a pretty good fit and a good fit with Noah. They're both originally from the Brumbies, they've played a fair bit of time together, so we just felt that combination would be a good one to start us off on Saturday."
Saturday's Test will also see James Slipper surpass George Gregan as the most capped Wallaby of of all time, as Accor Stadium stages its first Bledisloe encounter since 2020.
You have to go back a further five years to find the last Australian victory at the venue when Michael Cheika, coincidentally in his first Bledisloe Test as coach, led the Wallabies to a 27-19 victory having boldly combined Michael Hooper and David Pocock in the same back-row for the first time.
Schmidt has produced a bold call of his own in handing White just his second Test start of the season. The Western Force halfback had a torrid time in terrible conditions in Perth when the Wallabies were beaten 30-12 by the Springboks last month, but Schmidt has opted for White's vast experience for the crunch clash at the Olympic precinct.
Gordon has been Schmidt's favoured No. 9 so far this season, starting five of the seven Tests to date, but the Waratahs skipper was penalised for offside at a key juncture in Australia's 67-27 hammering by Argentina.
With the Pumas already riding a wave of momentum late in the first half, Gordon's indiscretion gave the hosts a huge territorial gain and an opportunity to continue their surge early in the second half, which Pablo Matera did by adding to fellow back-rower Juan Martin Gonzalez's earlier five-pointer.
Meanwhile, star No. 7 Fraser McReight will make his return from a hand injury in Saturday afternoon's Test, the Reds openside replacing Carlo Tizzano despite the Force back-rower's impressive breakdown and defensive work, particularly against the Pumas.
Elsewhere, Hunter Paisami and Tom Wright return to the starting side at fullback at inside centre respectively, with Andrew Kellaway shifting back to the wing to accommodate the Brumbies flyer's return.
Paisami missed the trip to Argentina because of a knee injury, and while his fitness was still under a cloud at the start of the week he has been cleared to play his first Bledisloe since 2022.
Saturday's trans-Tasman showdown will also mark Brandon Paenga-Amosa's return to the Test arena since 2021, with the Force-bound included on the bench as Australia's replacement hooker.
Paenga-Amosa's last international outing came against the All Blacks in Auckland in 2021 before the hooker headed off to join Montpellier, with whom he won the Top 14 title 12 months later.
Schmidt said the Wallabies had reviewed their 40-point hammering and identified the areas they needed to fix.
"Obviously we leaked nine tries and I think we gave the ball up too easily and then we got disconnected defensively," he said. "As I described it, we fell off a bit of a cliff.
"When the score was 41-27, one more score and we potentially can get two bonus points, but from 41-27 it blew right out with a bit of inexperience, we over chased things and then when we over chased things we destabilised ourselves and it allowed them on the break to come back and hurt us."
Both Schmidt and All Blacks coach Scott Robertson boast 4-3 records in charge of their respective teams this year, with the pressure perhaps more firmly on the New Zealand boss.
Robertson was able to win two tight Tests against England before a routing of Fiji in a one-off Test in San Diego, but the All Blacks have since lost three out of four after a shock defeat at home to Argentina and then the narrow losses away to the world champion Springboks in South Africa.
While the All Blacks are yet to truly hit their straps under Robertson, the Wallabies have lost the last seven Bledisloe Cup encounters, including a disappointing 38-7 thrashing at the MCG last year.
Both teams are out of the running for the Rugby Championship, with the Springboks 11 points clear of New Zealand and 14 of Australia.
AUSTRALIA: Tom Wright, Andrew Kellaway, Len Ikitau, Hunter Paisami, Marika Koroibete, Noah Lolesio, Nic White; Harry Wilson, Fraser McReight, Rob Valetini, Jeremy Williams, Nick Frost, Taniela Tupou, Matt Faessler, Angus Bell.
Replacements: Brandon Paenga-Amosa, James Slipper, Allan Alaalatoa, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Langi Gleeson, Tate McDermott, Tom Lynagh, Dylan Pietsch.