Wallabies coach braced for tough clash

WALES will be no World Cup rollovers tomorrow and will take the game down to the wire, says Australia coach Michael Cheika.

Cheika is concerned enough about beating the Welsh to top spot in Pool A, that having lost suspended flanker Michael Hooper, he gave fullback Israel Folau extra time to prove his fitness — delaying announcing his team until after training yesterday.

Cheika also wanted to sort out his bench, as with the Welsh coming on strong in the latter quarter of their 28-25 win over England, he wants effective impact players.

The Australians have beaten Wales in their last 10 meetings — Cheika’s one win saw the Wallabies edge it 33-28 last November — but many have been close affairs.

“I wanted to wait to name the team until after training as the bench will be very important to have strong finishers as Wales will play it down to the wire,” said Cheika. “They showed this spirit when they played England, never let go, and it paid off.”

Scrumhalf Will Genia concurred, saying top teams could pull something out of the hat in the final minutes even when they looked to be out of contention.

“Plenty can happen,” said the Papau New Guinea-born halfback. “England had that late surge. If you give good quality sides like Wales a sniff they will take their chances.”

Cheika, who has turned the Wallabies around in under a year since replacing Ewen McKenzie, said he didn’t believe they had built up momentum because of their 3313 thrashing of England, which saw the hosts consigned to the ignominy of being the first to fail to make the knockout stages.

“We supposedly had momentum after we beat New Zealand in Sydney as well (in the Rugby Championship earlier this year),” said the 48-year-old coach. “And then they put their boot to our backside. And that can happen if you are not on every day. We have to learn from those times.”

Cheika, the only coach to have won both the northern and southern hemisphere continental club championships with Leinster and the Waraths, said his ambition was not to win the game so as to avoid playing SA in the last eight.

“I want to try to win every game,” said Cheika. “No team ever won the World Cup losing a game. We have to keep getting better in tournament play because other teams are improving.

“By winning this game, then you win the group. I don’t subscribe to the theory that if you win your group, you are going to get an easier run. That is disrespecting the opposition and that is not what we are about.

“It is going to be a big game for us. It is going to be a massive battle and pretty painful.”

Genia said the Wallabies could not afford to let-up for one instant against the Welsh side, who despite a plethora of injuries have defied the odds in the toughest pool.

“They have a great coach in Warren Gatland, who turns out a very well-drilled side,” said Genia.

“If we’re a bit off our game, the Welsh will take full advantage.

“It’s going to be another huge test match. Previous ones have been very very close.

“I know how hard the challenge is mentally as well as physically,” he said.