Australia will be without the injured James O’Connor and flanker David Pocock, a late withdrawal from the Ireland game, will miss this game as well. Pocock is a big loss to the Tri-Nations champions and this was evident in the last game where the Irish dominated the breakdown. Robbie Deans has made a total of seven changes to his side but he will want to re-build momentum before a possible quarter-final against the Springboks.
The USA have made 14 changes to a side that defeated Russia, probably to rest these first team regulars for a potential third place decider against Italy in their final pool game on the 27th September. The USA posed Ireland problems in their opening game and showed both their ability to attack with ball in hand and create a solid defensive line that is very hard to break down. The USA have shown at this World Cup that they are closing the gap on the established rugby nations but depth in the squad is lacking and the Wallabies should bounce back to winning ways in Wellington.
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