TAULUPE Faletau will lead the charge for Wales in their autumn opener against Australia this afternoon with a fellow Lion declaring the already ‘exceptional’ number eight is yet to reach the peak of his powers.

Faletau, 23, has won 36 caps for Wales since bursting onto the Test scene in 2011.

The Newport Gwent Dragons forward is being kept on his toes by Dan Baker but his Ospreys rival has some way to go before he is a genuine contender for the 8 jersey.

And England and Leicester great Dean Richards, whose Newcastle side came up against Faletau in the European Rugby Challenge Cup last month, says Faletau deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Kieran Read, Duane Vermeulen, Sergio Parisse and Jamie Heaslip.

“Toby Faletau is a quality player, there are a lot of very good number eights around at the moment and he is right up there with the best of them,” said Richards, a Lions tourist in 1989 and 1993.

“He is exceptional at what he does; he just breaks the first tackle every time, is great at offloading and his positional sense is fantastic, he is a very good player.

“You tend to think that he is 28 or 29 because he has been around for so long but he is still young so has a great future ahead of him.

“At number eight it’s just about understanding of the game and knowing what is unfolding in front of you. Toby is already good at that but will get even better with more experience.”

Faletau started in the Lions’ third Test victory against the Wallabies last summer but is yet to enjoy a victory against a southern hemisphere big gun in 10 attempts with Wales.

Today he joins forces with familiar back row partners Dan Lydiate and Sam Warburton with Justin Tipuric backing them up from the bench.

Australia field uncapped blindside Sean McMahon with captain Michael Hooper on the openside and Ben McCalman at number eight.