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Thursday 16 August 2018 09:17, UK
Australia begin their 2018 Rugby Championship campaign by hosting defending champions New Zealand in Sydney on August 18, live on Sky Sports.
The Wallabies continue to be one of the most dangerous sides around and boast some of the best players in the world in their ranks.
From August 18, we will see what they are made of as they take on New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina home and away.
Before that, we take a look at the state of play in Australia ahead of the tournament's beginning...
For the past two Rugby Championships, Australia have faced a New Zealand side in Sydney which has flown out of the traps in the face of a stuttering Wallaby one. Slow starts have been a major issue for the men in gold.
In 2016, New Zealand romped to a 32-3 half-time lead, before winning 42-8. In 2017, the All Blacks raced out to a 54-6 lead, again in Sydney, before eventually winning 54-34.
Michael Cheika and co arranged a trial match between a Wallabies XV and a select Australian Super Rugby XV on August 3 in an attempt to get them up to speed ahead of welcoming Steve Hansen's charges to the ANZ Stadium on August 18, but will it be enough?
"You can't warm-up into that game [against the All Blacks]," Cheika said ahead of the trial match. "That's maybe something we've been caught up with over the last couple of years.
"It's definitely an opportunity for some players to show how much they want to play on the 18th."
Start as slow for a third year in a row and it's likely Australia will begin the Rugby Championship with another home loss and be on the back-foot from both the Bledisloe Cup and wider competition's point of view again.
A supplementary aspect to the Wallabies XV v Australian Super Rugby XV trial match was the fact that Australian clubs within Super Rugby continue to falter, meaning the majority of players in the country haven't played a game of rugby since July 14.
Out of all four clubs, the Waratahs were the only outfit to make the Qualifiers this year, and the only Australian club in three years to make the semi-final playoffs.
The culling of Western Force has been seen by some to have improved the other top level Australian clubs, but the Brumbies, Rebels and Reds still finished outside the Super Rugby top eight and within the bottom seven clubs competing.
Though the Waratahs booked a home Qualifier courtesy of winning the Australian Conference, the New South Wales based-side would have finished fourth in the New Zealand Conference with the same performance.
There would still, therefore, appear to be a considerable gulf in class between the Australian clubs and their New Zealand counterparts.
This, in turn, sees standout players such as the Waratahs' Taqele Naiyaravoro - second-top try scorer in Super Rugby 2018 - leave Australian shores and take themselves out of the equation for the Test side. A situation seen numerous times over the last few years.
A further topic of conversation relates to avenues for young Australian players to perform in and come through beneath Super Rugby level. New Zealand has the NPC, South Africa has the Currie Cup, but what does Australia have? The club game Down Under is still in need of a rethink.
An area of concern for Australia before the competition even begins comes at centre, where Samu Kerevi and Tevita Kuridrani are both out injured.
Flanker and skipper Michael Hooper does make the squad, but how fit is he? Having looked to seriously injure his hamstring in the June series with Ireland.
In total, Cheika has named six uncapped players in his 36-man Wallabies squad for the Rugby Championship.
The Rebels' 22-year-old tighthead prop Jermaine Ainsley and Brumbies hooker Folau Fainga'a are picked among the forwards.
In the backs, uncapped trio Josh Maddocks, Tom Banks and Bill Meakes make the squad again, having been in and around the set-up before, but 18-year-old Jordan Petaia is picked in his maiden Australia squad.
The Reds man was the youngest player in Super Rugby last season and recently scored a superb try in the aforementioned trial match in Sydney.
As well as new boys, there are a couple of old faces who are back in the mix - both have whom will be performing in Leicester Tigers colours this season.
Centre Matt Toomua earns a call-up having agreed to join the Rebels after the 2018/19 season, while 33-year-old hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau makes his first squad since November 2017.
Cheika's Wallabies showed so much of what makes them a threat during the summer's compelling three-Test series with Ireland, but disciplinary issues on the field of play cost them dear.
Scintillating back play and superb energy was in abundance against Ireland, as it was too in the Waratahs' stirring comeback win over the Highlanders recently. The likes of Israel Folau, Kurtley Beale and Bernard Foley have proven themselves world class.
But akin to England's performance in South Africa in June - a lack of discipline and consistently conceding penalties stemmed the majority of Australia's attempts to dominate both possession and territory against the Irish as they went down 2-1 to Joe Schmidt's side.
So much of success in modern rugby revolves around the penalty count. If Australia are similarly ill-disciplined throughout the Rugby Championship, they will struggle to prosper.
The All Blacks may be the only side in the world capable of regularly conceding double figure penalty counts and winning games. They are cunning, ruthless and explosive. Unless a side contains the sort of firepower New Zealand do, then keeping penalties down and out of your game is of paramount importance.
Forwards: Jermaine Ainsley, Allan Alaalatoa, Rory Arnold, Adam Coleman, Folau Faingaa, Ned Hanigan, Michael Hooper (c), Sekope Kepu, Tolu Latu, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, David Pocock, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Tom Robertson, Izack Rodda, Pete Samu, Rob Simmons, Scott Sio, Caleb Timu, Lukhan Tui, Taniela Tupou.
Backs: Tom Banks, Kurtley Beale, Israel Folau, Bernard Foley, Will Genia, Dane Haylett-Petty, Reece Hodge, Marika Koroibete, Jack Maddocks, Billy Meakes, Sefa Naivalu, Jordan Petaia, Nick Phipps, Joe Powell, Curtis Rona, Matt Toomua.
