Australia's opening rugby union international of the season against Ireland on Saturday is shaping as a genuine test - for players, coaches and medical staff.

　　Australian coach Eddie Jones is missing four frontline centers, two wingers and his key playmaker in Steve Larkham, while his Irish counterpart Eddie O'Sullivan has resorted to his third choice skipper in the absence of injured Keith Wood and Brian O'Driscoll.

　　The Wallabies will kickstart their international season with six survivors from the shock 18-9 loss in Dublin last November that gave the Irish their first win over Australia since 1979 and highlighted their 10-test winning roll.

　　Jones and O'Sullivan have both declared they're using the match to experiment ahead of the World Cup starting in October, when the nati-ons will be grouped together again.

　　But before the Australians think about defending the World Cup, Jones wants to focus on defending a run against Ireland and British nations that stretches two decades.

　　Australia hasn't lost at home to Ireland, England, Scotland or Wales since a 12-7 defeat to the Scots at Brisbane in 1982.

　　"We're approaching it very much as a game in itself, we'd like to do well, we'd like to start the season off well," said Jones, who'll guide the Wallabies in subsequent tests against Wales and England and in the Tri-Nations series before the World Cup begins.

　　"Everyone talks about the World Cup and certainly our goal is to do well in the World Cup, but we've got seven test matches that are important in themselves," added Jones. "Everything you do in those matches counts toward the World Cup but everything you do also counts in that particular game."

　　O'Sullivan said Australia and Ireland were at opposite ends of their preparations, like they were at Dublin when the Wallabies were on an end of season tour without some of their biggest names and were outplayed by a fresh Irish team in the pouring rain.

　　"I don't think it is the be all and end all of the season for either team, but we are both looking at it with interest on the basis we are both short a number of players," he said.

　　In the absence of Dan Herbert, Stirling Mortlock, Matthew Burke, Matt Giteau and Mat Rogers, Jones has resorted to a center combination of Steve Kefu and Morgan Turinui, who don't have a run-on test cap between them. "We're going to see people getting exposed to test rugby that mightn't have been exposed in the first place," said Jones, remaining upbeat about the prospects.

　　Turinui, who made his Super 12 debut for the Waratahs this season, almost joined the injured list when he strained his abdomen in training but came through a fitness test.

　　Ireland goes into the match on a heavy 42-6 loss to England in the Six Nations Grand Slam showdown in March, while Australia's last interna-tional resulted in a last-minute loss to the English in November.

　　Australia had a 2-0 sweep last time Ireland toured Australia in 1999 - also a World Cup year - although after succumbing 46-10 at Brisbane, the Irish almost caused an upset in the second test at Subiaco before losing 32-26.

　　With O'Driscoll and Rob Hender-son sidelined, Geordan Murphy moved into the centers to join Kevin Maggs and David Humphreys retained his starting spot at flyhalf and was promoted to captain.

　　Ireland retained a hard-headed forward pack, with Victor Costello moving to No 8 from the side of the scrum, former Australian Under-21 captain Keith Gleeson named as a flanker and Reggie Corrigan switch-ing from loosehead to tighthead prop.

　　The Irish forwards barged the Wallabies around in the mud at Lansdowne Road six months ago and Jones said it was an area he'd concentrated on fixing.