Whittaker and Eddie Jones face the press (Getty Images).

By Gareth Duggan, PA Sport, Adelaide

Click here for Australia team section
Click here for more World Cup news

Australia's stand-in captain Chris Whittaker has dismissed talk of a big score against Namibia and set his team's sights on simple effectiveness and structure when the two teams meet in their World Cup pool match in Adelaide on Saturday.

Whittaker has taken over the scrum-half and captaincy duties from George Gregan and is not interested in marking the occasion with a scoreline to rival the 90-8 thrashing of Romania last week.

"No-one thinks about scorelines. As long as we play well the scoreline looks after itself and we will just go out there and try to stick to our game," said Whittaker.

"The scoreline is the last thing we are worried about. What we want to do is play well, we want individuals to play well and we want to move our game forward."

The 29-year-old New South Welshman is very much in new territory as he has never even visited Adelaide, a city better known for its two Aussie Rules teams and one of cricket's most beloved venues - the Adelaide Oval, where Saturday's match is to be played.

"Not only is it the first Test match in Adelaide, it is the first time I have been to Adelaide actually, and it is quite a big occasion," he said.

"To captain your country in a World Cup is just a huge honour and I am very proud.

"It is very humbling. When Eddie first told me that that was going to be the case I was quite taken aback. I didn't know how to feel."

Whittaker will lead out a team with only fullback Mat Rogers, flanker George Smith, lock Nathan Sharpe and number eight David Lyons surviving from the win over Romania.

The starting line-up includes uncapped loosehead prop Matt Dunning, while fly-half Matt Giteau and David Croft make their first run-on appearances for the Wallabies.

Chris Latham has the chance to win back his fullback spot, with Rogers shifting to the left wing, while Lote Tuqiri finally gets his chance on the right wing.

Whittaker expects the players who have been brought in to provide some extra zest as they try and make good on their opportunity to shine for coach Eddie Jones.

"We have been training since as soon as the Tri-Nations was finished and the boys have been training really hard, so to finally get that chance to run out there and put your training into practice there is plenty of excitement."

"I have not set any actual goals, but as a team we want to keep our structure. I think a big thing is just to enjoy it down here. It is a big occasion with a Test match in Adelaide, so I am sure the boys running out on the field are really going to enjoy it."

One line-out option which will be checked out is that of using David Giffin again after he came through a training session to test his injured shoulder.

"He is still in a fair bit of pain but he got through training on Wednesday, recovered pretty well yesterday and we will see how he goes in the second half," said coach Eddie Jones.

"He is all right to play so it is just a matter now of getting him out on the field and seeing how he goes."

Namibia coach Dave Waterston has left out regular skipper Sean Furter and former captain Corne Powell, handing leadership of the team to scrum-half Hakkies Husselman.

Also on the bench is flanker Schalk van der Merwe, which leaves the loose forwards looking rather youthful.

Opensider Sean van Rooi and number eight Jurgens van Lill are 21 and 22 respectively, while blindsider Herman Lintvelt is the old man of the three at 27 years old.