Unbeaten runs on the line as Australia face Wales

Australia and Wales may have qualified for the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup already but there is plenty resting on their Pool A clash at Twickenham on Saturday.

The winners will top the group and so avoid South Africa, whose 64-0 thrashing of the United States on Wednesday continued their revival after a shock opening loss to Japan, in the last eight.

Both the Wallabies and Wales have won all three of their ‘Pool of Death’ matches so far, with every World Cup-winning team, including Australia in 1991 and 1999, going through the tournament unbeaten.

“No team ever won the World Cup losing a game,” said Australia coach Michael Cheika.

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

Wales have lost their last 10 Tests against Australia — a sequence that includes a third place play-off defeat at the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand.

But that did not stop Cheika labelling Wales counterpart Warren Gatland as the “master coach” last week.

Although Cheika has only been in charge of the Wallabies for barely a year, the Australian’s attempts to present himself as a novice cut no ice with Gatland.

After all, Cheika is the only coach to have won both the European Cup, with Irish province Leinster, and the southern hemisphere’s Super Rugby competition, with the New South Wales Waratahs.

This year also saw Cheika guide Australia to the southern hemisphere Rugby Championship title.

Australia underlined their credentials as title contenders with an impressive 33-13 win over England last weekend that knocked the tournament hosts, beaten 28-25 by Wales the previous week, out of the event.

Bernard Foley scored 28 points in an impressive all-round exhibition of fly-half play, while Australia’s back-row of David Pocock, Michael Hooper and Scott Fardy bossed the breakdown.

Hooper, however, will be absent on Saturday because of a one-week ban for a shoulder charge, with his place taken by Sean McMahon.