Gavin Henson will miss Wales's entire autumn programme after tests on his damaged Achilles tendon indicated the need for a complete month of rehabilitation. The Ospreys centre will not resume his international career until next year's RBS Six Nations Championship.

A scan on Tuesday suggested that Henson would need an injection followed by injury-specific work to alleviate the condition that has affected him for much of this season. He withdrew from last Saturday's meeting with South Africa only 24 hours before the kick-off, was omitted from tomorrow's game against Canada at the Millennium Stadium and will miss the matches with New Zealand and Australia. He is unlikely to be available for the Ospreys when they resume their Heineken Cup campaign against Treviso on December 6.

Fewer than half the Canada team to face Wales have any experience of playing in Cardiff and the touring side's coaching staff are hoping that the players will not be overawed by the famous venue. “We have our own goals for the game,” Kieran Crowley, the New Zealander who is coaching Canada, said. “We want to achieve a certain tackle count per player. We want to limit our penalties and we want to kick the penalties we get.”

Shane Williams, the Wales wing, has been added to the Barbarians squad who will play Australia in the centenary match at Wembley on December 3. Remarkably, Williams has yet to appear for the invitation club but joins two other illustrious wings, Bryan Habana, of South Africa, and Joe Rokocoko, of New Zealand.

François Trinh-Duc, who made his debut at fly half for France last season, has also agreed to play for the Barbarians, alongside his Montpellier colleague, Ollie Smith, formerly of Leicester. France, meanwhile, having enjoyed a narrow 12-6 win over Argentina last weekend, will play a Pacific Islanders side in Sochaux on Saturday containing eight players based with French clubs, alongside two Harlequins, Tani Fuga and Epi Taione.

Two Saracens front-row forwards, Fabio Ongaro and Matias Aguera, have been promoted into the Italy side to play Argentina in Turin. Italy have been forced by injury into a third change, at centre, where Matteo Pratichetti comes in for Gonzalo Canale.

The IRB is to consider the value of restoring traditional tours to the calendar, including midweek games for development purposes. It is also contemplating a tournament to be played in a Lions year by countries not involved with the touring Lions, and how best to integrate Argentina into the Tri-Nations schedule.

Barbarians squad (to play Australia at Wembley on December 3): Backs: P Montgomery, B Habana, J Rokocoko, S Williams, R Gear, J de Villiers, O Smith, F Trinh-Duc, G Gregan, F du Preez. Forwards: G Steenkamp, C Hayman, P Callazo, J Smit, M Regan, S Borthwick, B Botha, C Jack, N Koster, S Burger, R McCaw, G Collins.

Canada team (to play Wales at the Millennium Stadium tomorrow): J Pritchard; C Hearn, B Keys, R Smith, J Mensah-Coker; A Monro, E Fairhurst; K Tkachuk, P Riordan (captain), J Thiel, T Hotson, J Jackson, J Sinclair, A Kleeberger, A Carpenter. Replacements: M Pletch, F Walsh, M Burak, S-M Stephen, M Williams, M Evans, D Van Camp.