Australia open their World Cup campaign with a Group B game against Japan in Lyon tomorrow with one eye already focused on the showdown against Wales in Cardiff the following week.
Coach John Connolly knows that a win against Asia's top side is virtually guaranteed, but he he wants his top players in a full-strength side to all stretch their legs.
Back comes winger Lote Tuqiri following a two-match suspension imposed after he missed a medical appointment and a team recovery session in July.
Fullback Chris Latham wins his 74th cap and will start his first international this year.
Latham, who celebrates his 32nd birthday tomorrow, returned for the final Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup Test against New Zealand in July and played the final 35 minutes after coming back from knee reconstruction.
In the front row, Al Baxter has been named at tighthead prop, while Guy Shepherdson will start the match on the bench after a knee injury disrupted his preparations for tomorrow's opener.
Stirling Mortlock will captain Australia for the first time in a World Cup match and will be assisted by two vice captains in 134-Test veteran George Gregan and flanker George Smith.
Connolly said it was important to field his strongest team for the opening match of the tournament.
"We had always planned to play our strongest team for our first two pool matches," Connolly said.
"We want to build towards the Wales match [on Sept. 15] with a strong performance on Saturday and we will get a good opportunity to do that against Japan," he said.
Latham agreed with Connolly saying that the Wallabies needed to concentrate on what they do best if they are to win a third World Cup.
"It's about building momentum, it's about getting the basics right. If we do that, we'll earn the right to build from there," Latham said.
Japan coach John Kirwan in contrast admitted that keeping the points down against the Australians would represent a victory for his team.
The Japanese, who have recorded only one win in five consecutive World Cup appearances -- 52-8 over Zimbabwe in 1991 -- will also play Wales, Fiji and Canada in a tough pool.
"We must concentrate on the Australian game," former All Black legend Kirwan said. "We have a game against the second ranked team in the world and we must face the challenge. A good score on the board will constitute a win."
Kirwan added that he had stressed to his side the importance of playing their own style.
"I think it is important for us as a team to keep the Japanese style of rugby. I believe that if we can withstand that and face the opposition we will have a fantastic World Cup," he said.
"We'd like to keep the ball as much as possible and also to play a fast, quick game. For us, it is very important that we believe in our ability. I believe that the players that we have here can believe in themselves and in the style of game we play, and can be successful," Kirwan said.
"For us, it is an important World Cup. We want to show the world the Japanese style and we want to confirm that Japan deserves to host the 2015 World Cup," he said.
HSIEH ADVANCES: In the women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei was to play in the second round last night, but Taiwan’s Ray Ho exited in the men’s doubles It is more than 10 years since Grigor Dimitrov reached his sole Wimbledon semi-final and back then it still seemed a reasonable bet that the Bulgarian once dubbed “Baby Federer” would win a Grand Slam title. There were semi-final runs at the US Open and Australian Open after that, but it has never quite happened and despite him still being ranked No. 21, it most likely never will. Dimitrov, 34, remains one of the most stylish players on the circuit though, with his elegant single-handed backhand and smooth all-court game a rare reminder of how tennis was before the power merchants turned
Spain are the favorites to win the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025, but star player Aitana Bonmati’s illness ahead of the tournament raises another question mark around a side which, despite their obvious quality, are not unstoppable. Having claimed the last two Ballon d’Or awards, Barcelona midfielder Bonmati is the game’s biggest star at present, so her absence in the final days before the start of Euro 2025 is a major setback. The 27-year-old came down with a fever in training last week, and was subsequently hospitalized and diagnosed with viral meningitis. Bonmati was discharged on Sunday and joined up with
INJURY TURMOIL: Despite stunning French Open champions Paolini and Errani to advance, Chan was forced to pull out after her partner’s tearful women’s singles defeat Last year’s mixed doubles champions Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and Poland’s Jan Zielinski on Monday crashed out of the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, leaving the Taiwanese star focused on pursuing a fifth women’s doubles title in London, while a partner injury forced compatriot Chan Hao-ching to give up on her doubles campaign. Hsieh and Zielinksi, who last year also won the Australia Open title, narrowly lost their opening set 7-6 (9/7), before Britain’s Joe Salisbury and Brazil’s Luisa Stefani stunned the former champions 6-3 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. The Taiwanese-Polish duo had been dominant in the first two
Real Madrid’s FIFA Club World Cup quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund had taken three crazy turns during nine minutes of second-half stoppage time when Marcel Sabitzer chested the ball and sent a right-footed volley toward Thibaut Courtois’ post. Courtois leapt to his right, extended the long arm on his 2m frame and just managed to get his gloved fingertips on the ball, knocking it down. Courtois hit the ground as the ball bounded up. He looked skyward, planted his right hand to regain his balance, grabbed the ball with both hands on the second bounce and fell onto it with his chest. Sabitzer turned
RSS