Two-time world champions Australia get their campaign underway tomorrow afternoon when they take on Fiji at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
As for the Pacific Islanders, they will be looking to bounce back from their 35-11 defeat to hosts England last Friday.
Australia
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When Ewen McKenzie quit his position as head coach 12 months ago, Australian rugby was not in a good place.
The belief was that it would take a new generation of players to fix the mess, but to the credit of McKenzie's replacement Michael Cheika, the Wallabies are regarded to be one of the contenders to lift the Webb Ellis trophy next month.
The 48-year-old, who is the only coach to have won the Heineken Cup and Super 15 titles, guided the Aussies to their first ever Rugby Championship crown earlier this year - a triumph that included victories over South Africa and New Zealand.
Cheika's men have since lost two warm-up matches against the All Blacks, one of which saw their winless run at Eden Park stretch into a 30th year. However, in those encounters, New Zealand coach Steve Hansen saw enough from Australia to suggest that they will be challengers over the next few weeks.
"I think they're on the right path. They have got some pretty talented players and they showed last week that, if you don't turn up with the right attitude yourselves, you're in trouble. They are a really good rugby side and, while they are in a tough pool, they will be battle-hardened if they get through it and a tough side to beat," he said.
Australia head into this fixture having lost just one of their previous first pool matches, which was suffered in 1995 as South Africa ran out 27-18 winners in Cape Town.
Recent form: LLWWWL
Fiji
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They may have been defeated against England on matchday one, but the Fijians came out of that contest at Twickenham with plenty of credit.
Special praise was reserved for the pack, who competed well against their opposite numbers over the course of the 80 minutes.
Nevertheless, John McKee's side will be only too aware that they will be the underdogs once again when they take on Australia in Southern Wales. However, the coach has told his team that rather than feel overawed, they can taken inspiration from Japan's heroics against South Africa on Saturday afternoon.
"Their win certainly will inspire us. It's great and the boys were very happy for the Japanese team, to see them get that result," the New Zealander told reporters.
"It shows a number of things. The gap between tier one and tier two is closing. When you look back to previous World Cups, the scorelines are coming down, and Japan showed what a team can achieve when they stick to their gameplan and have a smart gameplan that allows them to play to their strengths."
If Fiji are to stand any chance of progressing through to the quarter-finals for only the third time in their history, they will realistically need to avoid defeat in this clash.
Recent form: LLLWWL
Team News
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When announcing his starting lineup for this encounter, Cheika confirmed that seven of his side would be making their World Cup debuts.
Unsurprisingly the likes of Israel Folau and Michael Hooper have been included, while Stephen Moore will continue to wear the captain's armband.
Meanwhile, Fiji will have to make do without the services of flanker Dominiko Waqaniburotu, who has been suspended after he was cited for foul play against England.
In total, McKee has made four alterations to his side, with Talemaitoga Tuapati, Tevita Cavubati, Netani Talei and Peceli Yato all having been included.
Australia starting lineup:
Sio, Moore, Kepu, Douglas, Simmons, Fardy, Hooper, Pocock; Genia, Foley, Horne, Giteau, Kuridrani, Ashley-Cooper, Folau
Fiji starting lineup:
Talebula, Nayacalevu, Goneva, Lovbalavu, Nadolo, Volavola, Matawalu; Ma'afu, Tuapati, Saulo, Cavubati, Nakarawa, Yato, Talei, Qera
Head To Head
It will not be overly surprising to learn that Fiji have won none of their 10 meetings with Australia, losing all of them.
One of those games was played at the Rugby World Cup, which saw the Aussies run out 55-12 winners in Montpellier eight years ago.
We say: Australia 30-15 Fiji
Fiji are bound to put in another competitive display, but just as it did with England, that extra little bit of quality that Australia possess should be enough to get the Wallabies off to a winning start.
Liam Apicella
