Australia v Fiji: Five talking points ahead of World Cup clash
Last Updated: 23/09/15 10:39am
Five talking points ahead of Australia's World Cup Pool A clash with Fiji at the Millennium Stadium...
Lynagh backs 'Pooper' combination
Former Australia fly-half Michael Lynagh feels Michael Cheika has opted for two specialist opensides in his starting XV after watching Fiji's breakdown work against England.
One of the positives for Fiji from their Twickenham defeat was the number of turnovers won and Lynagh, a World Cup winner with the Wallabies in 1991, believes the selection of Michael Hooper and David Pocock gives Australia the edge in that area.
Lynagh told Sky Sports Rugby World Cup Podcast: "During the Rugby Championship the Hooper-Pocock combination was shown to work - and particularly with Pocock at No 8.
"Whether that was him coming off the bench, or starting the game, it worked really well.
"I think this is a little bit of horses for courses - Cheika would have looked at England v Fiji where England had quite a few turnovers executed against them. Fiji were pretty good at the breakdown.
"I expect Australia to win. They have been sitting there watching all the other teams playing and there may be a little anxiety about wanting to just get going.
"But I think this is a really good squad - they seem to have found some a little bit depth. The forwards look to be strong, they have a great backrow and the backs are up there.
"Australia need to keep it a little tighter against Fiji, which is not really in Australia's nature, but you don't want to be playing too loose a game against Fiji because that is when they love to play the ball."
Tee-thing problems
Fiji were disappointing in their loss to England but were it not for their poor goalkicking the game would have been much closer going into the final quarter.
Powerful wing Nemani Nadolo is a crowd favourite but his place kicking is suspect, landing just one of three attempts, while fly-half Ben Volavola had the same return from the tee. A kicking percentage of 33 per cent is simply not good enough at international level.
Fiji always possess the ability to play eye-catching off-the-cuff rugby, but they must first do the basics and start kicking their goals if they are to claim a first-ever win over the Wallabies.
Fiji fatigue
The strength of Fiji's scrum was one of the main talking points from the opening night of the World Cup, but will the herculean effort of their pack take its toll?
Props Campese Ma'afu and Manus Saulo played 73 and 75 minutes at Twickenham respectively as Fiji coach John McKee seemed reluctant to use his bench. He made just five substitutions, three of those coming in the final seven minutes.
McKee has made four changes for Wednesday's match but Ma'afu and Saulo remain in the front row, and the six-day turnaround could prove a factor during the second half.
"We play with short turnarounds in the Pacific Nations Cup, so in terms of our systems, recovery and analysis, we have practised that," said McKee.
"We have made some changes to our forward pack which were pre-planned, to make sure we get a number of fresh players into the line-up but keeping the continuity with the core of our team."
Genia gets his chance
Will Genia makes his first Test start in over two months at the Millennium Stadium, having played just a half of rugby during Australia's successful Rugby Championship campaign following knee surgery.
Michael Cheika made a big call by selecting Genia in his World Cup squad ahead of the unlucky Nic White. Phipps is likely to start against Uruguay on Sunday so Genia needs to hit the ground running if he is to don the No 9 jersey against England on Saturday week.
"The coaches have obviously shown a huge amount of faith and I feel like after the surgery the body's feeling really, really good," said Genia, who will win his 61st cap against Fiji.
"Mentally I feel like I'm in a good place."
Lineout lottery
While Fiji's scrum and breakdown work earned deserved praise against England, their lineout was a major cause for concern.
An overthrow gifted England their second try and Sunia Koto has paid the price as he drops out of the matchday 23.
Rob Simmons and Kane Douglas have named in the Australian second row, with Dean Mumm and Will Skelton on the bench, and they will put pressure on Talemaitoga Tuapati, who replaces Koto at hooker.