JUSTIN Tipuric may be lining up in place of Sam Warburton at openside in Wales' autumn opener with Australia but he will also be charged with filling the boots of inspirational number eight Taulupe Faletau.

Blindside Dan Lydiate is the only member of the back row that has been the bedrock of the Warren Gatland era that will line up in the autumn opener against the Wallabies at Principality Stadium.

Faletau has been out since the opening weekend of the season after suffering knee ligament damage on his Bath debut following his summer move from Newport Gwent Dragons.

Captain Warburton is on club duty with Cardiff Blues this weekend in a bid to prove his fitness for next weekend's clash with Argentina after being hindered by a cheekbone injury and then a neck problem.

Their absence gives Tipuric the chance to shine with 7 on his back after a stunning start to the campaign for the Ospreys while Gloucester's Ross Moriarty, who was excellent in the absence of Lydiate on the summer tour to New Zealand, gets the nod at 8.

With Warburton likely to return against the Pumas, opportunity knocks for Tipuric to produce a performance that makes him undroppable and he will be up against an Aussie side boosted by the return of talisman David Pocock, who will provide a formidable breakdown menace along with openside Michael Hooper.

"Our back row did well against Australia in the World Cup and Justin played in that game," said Rob Howley, who is acting head coach in the absence of Lions boss Warren Gatland.

"(We know about) his skill set in the wider channels and the challenge obviously is the contact area.

"With Hooper and Pocock, those areas are going to be hotly contested. We need to make sure that we have got numbers around the ball so that we can keep it, one of the key roles for Justin is to be there a little bit quicker than the men in yellow.

"I am sure he is looking forward to the opportunity and I think it's a really balanced back row; I am looking forward to seeing Ross at number eight.

"Hopefully we will see Justin in those wider channels as we saw Toby in New Zealand. There maybe a different number on the player's back in the wide channel but hopefully he can be as, if not more, effective."

Tipuric has the skills of a back in the loose but will have to play his part in shoring up a defence that leaked 27 tries in five summer games against the All Blacks (three times), England and the Chiefs.

"Against Australia, how we defend the first three or four phases is pretty important," said Howley.

"Shaun (Edwards, defence coach) has been working as hard in the last 10 days as he was in New Zealand. We just need to make sure that we make our tackles."

Wales are hopeful that Liam Williams, who has been unable to train fully because of an ankle injury, will be fit to face Argentina next week.

Centre Scott Williams also misses out after rolling his ankle before the Scarlets' European clash with Saracens but will be in the mix for the Pumas.

In his absence George North covers midfield with Newport Gwent Dragons speedster Hallam Amos the back three replacement.

Wales: L Halfpenny, A Cuthbert, J Davies, J Roberts, G North, D Biggar, R Webb, G Jenkins (captain), K Owens, S Lee, B Davies, L Charteris, D Lydiate, J Tipuric, R Moriarty. Replacements: S Baldwin, N Smith, T Francis, C Hill, J King, G Davies, S Davies, H Amos.