England vs South Africa LIVE rugby: Final score and result as Springboks down sub-par England despite red card

Adam Beard shells the opening kick off having been lifted just outside his own 22. Inauspicious.

The Principality surface is showing the wear and tear of a long campaign. The roof, incidentally, is meant to be closed, but is no longer fully able to shut - which rather sums up Welsh Rugby at the moment, in a lot of ways.

Australia get things underway.

Warm applause from the Australian players after a fifth proud, if perhaps slightly jaded, singing of “Advance Australia Fair” this autumn.

Faces old and new stud the Welsh line as they sing “Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau”, made more callow by Leigh Halfpenny’s late withdrawal. I think Australia will put plenty up in the air early on to test Josh Adams and the rest of that back three.

Right, here we are - the final matchday of this long international rugby autumn. The players wander out of the Principality Stadium tunnel, James Slipper widening his eyes as he takes it all in. The prop has done a good job in challenging circumstances this year - can his Australian side go again to deepen Wales’ problems?

A major late blow for Wales - Leigh Halfpenny has been ruled out minutes before kick off. Josh Adams steps in to the starting side at full back, with Sam Costelow called on to the bench.

In truth, I’m not expecting much from this contest. These sides are both so depleted and with so many new combinations that finding any degree of fluency will be tough. In Fraser McReight, Jac Morgan and Justin Tipuric, there are some fine breakdown spoilers, too - it could be messy at the breakdown. Referee Matthew Carley could have a busy afternoon.

Warren Gatland is back at the Principality this afternoon, working for Amazon Prime on their coverage. There has been plenty of talk about a potential return to the head coaching role for the New Zealander if Wayne Pivac’s days are, as rumoured, numbered - with a whisper or two that Gatland may open to a return.

“It’s great to be back,” Gatland says, rather dodging the question as he is asked directly about the speculation. “I got stopped by a lot of fans on the way here asking. I said ‘this is not about me’. There’s a lot of speculation and stuff. I want to see Wales put on a really good performance and hopefully bounce back.”

Has there been any contact with the WRU? “No,” Gatland replies, with a broad smile...

Australia will have earned their post-match beers this evening as a gruelling year finally concludes for Dave Rennie’s side. Five games always looked a brutal autumn schedule, and there is no doubt that this is someway short of the sort of side Rennie will hope to put out come the World Cup next September. The graphic below goes some way towards telling the story of the Wallabies’ injury woe and yet still omits Michael Hooper, Rory Arnold, Scott Sio and Izaia Perese, among others.

So what can they learn this afternoon with so few settled combinations? A strong performance from Ben Donaldson would be a bonus as Australia seek a long-term solution at fly half, and you’d expect the Wallabies to be solid enough at scrum time, with the starting front row about the only area of the side in reasonable nick. It’s a pretty sizeable backline, too, and one with loads of kicking ability – I think they’ll try to get after Wales in the air.

The suspicion was that Joe Hawkins may have to wait to get his turn in the Welsh midfield, but with Wayne Pivac’s top three choices at inside centre all absent, into the fray the youngster is thrown. The Ospreys centre captained the Welsh Under-20s impressively during the summer, notably striking a long-range penalty to seal victory late on against a strong Italian team, and has been backed by Wayne Pivac to make a quick step-up to Test level.

"He’s very excited,” Pivac said of his new cap. “He’s been in camp training for the last month and learning a lot and he’s looked good in training so he gets an opportunity."

Welsh rugby all feels rather downbeat at the moment, but Daffyd Jenkins, Christ Tshiunza and Hawkins have all come out of this year’s senior age-group side and offer glimmers of hope amid the gloom.

This is game number five of a long autumn for Australia, with the Wallabies very much down to their bare bones. Dave Rennie had only 25 available players from which to pick his final matchday squad of the year. Of those involved last week, Hunter Paisami, Dave Porecki, Nic White, Rob Valetini, Andrew Kellaway and Taniela Tupou all departed Dublin with injuries, and Michael Hooper was forced into a midweek withdrawal after suffering concussion symptoms.

That means the Australia side has a slightly odd look, with a number of new faces getting a chance to impress. Number eight Langi Gleeson is raw but has plenty of ball-carrying talent, while Ben Donaldson gets a first start, uniting in the halves with his Waratahs teammate Jake Gordon. Jack of all trades Reece Hodge starts at inside centre for the first time in six years.

Tighthead Sam Talakai could make his debut from the bench.

Australia XV: J Slipper (capt.), F Fainga’a, A Alaalatoa; N Frost, C Neville; J Holloway, F McReight, L Gleeson; J Gordon, B Donaldson; M Nawaqanitawase, R Hodge, L Ikitau, J Petaia; T Wright.

Replacements: L Longergan, T Robertson, S Talakai, N Hanigan, P Samu; T McDermott, N Lolesio, J Campbell.