Wales trio Owen Williams, Steff Evans and Josh Navidi start at home for the first time

Owen Williams will make his first Test match start at centre when Wales face Australia in Cardiff on Saturday.

Gloucester's Williams, who was capped as a replacement during Wales' tour match against Tonga earlier this year, lines up at inside-centre alongside the experienced Jonathan Davies.

There are also opportunities for Scarlets wing Steff Evans and Cardiff Blues flanker Josh Navidi, with the latter packing down alongside back-row colleagues Aaron Shingler and Taulupe Faletau.

British and Irish Lions Test full-back Liam Williams, meanwhile, is on the wing, as Leigh Halfpenny retains the number 15 shirt, and there are three uncapped players among the replacements in Dragons prop Leon Brown, plus Ospreys pair Owen Watkin and Sam Cross.

Cross, who has played less than a handful of senior 15-a-side games, featured in the Great Britain sevens squad that won an Olympic silver medal at Rio 2016.

Wales, beaten 12 times in a row by Australia, are without key names such as Sam Warburton, Justin Tipuric, Samson Lee, Rhys Webb and George North.

Williams' selection alongside fly-half Dan Biggar represents a shift of tactical emphasis by Wales head coach Warren Gatland as he fields two midfield playmakers.

It is an approach that Gatland operated with considerable success on the Lions' New Zealand tour earlier this year when Johnny Sexton and Owen Farrell filled those roles, while England head coach Eddie Jones also employs such a system with great effect, pairing together Farrell and George Ford.

Elsewhere behind the scrum, Gareth Davies will be Biggar's half-back partner as Webb continues his recovery from a knee injury, and Scarlets try machine Evans is handed an opportunity to show his blistering domestic form on the international stage.

The back-row, though, is all-change from Wales' final game of last season's Six Nations campaign, with injured Warburton and Tipuric unavailable and Ross Moriarty only having started his comeback for Gloucester last weekend following a lengthy injury absence.

Lock Alun Wyn Jones captains the side and wins his 111th cap, with Jones among seven Lions on duty in New Zealand this summer that feature in the starting XV.

Gatland wants his inexperienced team to hit the ground running with the 2019 World Cup in Japan being on the horizon for many of his players.

"I just believe that this team is capable of winning the World Cup, given their experience, their age profile in two years' time, that's why we're trying to expose some younger players at the moment," he said.

"The challenge for us on Saturday is that we haven't started [autumn internationals] that well in the past.

"We're playing a team that's had eight games together the last couple of months.

"A team that got beaten in the opening game of the [Rugby] Championship by 50 points and the All Blacks had just come off a hard series against the Lions, so were prepared.

"The shoe's on the other foot for us at the moment.

"[We're playing] a team that's had eight games and, like I said, have gone from the first game in the Championship, being beaten by the All Blacks by 50 to, two games ago, beating the All Blacks in Brisbane."

Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Jonathan Davies 12 Owen Williams, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 1 Rob Evans, 2 Ken Owens, 3 Tomas Francis, 4 Jake Ball, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 6 Aaron Shingler, 7 Josh Navidi, 8 Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Sam Cross, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Owen Watkin, 23 Hallam Amos.