The head coach is eyeing a 3-0 series victory - the squad's first unbeaten tour away from home since 1974 and their first clean sweep since 1927 - on the tour, but has rejected calls the Wallabies are no longer a worthy opposition and the tour should instead visit France or Argentina.

He said: “I don’t think it was ever off the agenda in my opinion.

“Every single team, country, province, has their ups and downs but Australia – the sporting nation that they are – are always going to come back.

“That on the weekend is no surprise to us, and why we expect them to be better. Have a look at the year they’ve got coming up. They’re going to be a force to be reckoned with, 100 per cent, with all their experiences, come the World Cup in 2027.

“It would be tragic not to tour here. We’ve had a blast. To me it’s insulting to talk about it in that kind of way.”

Saturday's (02.08.25) game will see James Ryan make his first start ahead of Ollie Chessum, while Blair Kinghorn will replace James Lowe.

Andy said: “We think that James thoroughly deserves his start. I think he’s grown through this tour. His physicality when he has come off the bench, when he has put the jersey on over the last three or four weeks has been there for all to see, so we think he’s the right person to start the Test.

“We thought that Blair is obviously a great athlete but the unpredictability of his game makes him very dangerous. The conditions that we’re expecting as far as the aerial game is concerned will be at its premium, so I think this game suits him.”