Australia head into their final World Cup warmup against Samoa in Sydney on Saturday at 11.30am with a safety-first mindset and seeking to avoid a repeat of the embarrassing slip-up to the Pacific islanders in their last clash in 2011.
Mindful of Samoa's bruising defence and the risk of a disruptive injury or two, Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has rested a slew of first-choice players while padding out the side with six who will not feature in Japan.
Of the World Cup squad lining up at Western Sydney Stadium, flanker David Pocock will be under the most scrutiny as he returns from a long lay-off with a calf injury.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/Wallabies?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Wallabiesshowdown against @ManuSamoa at @BankwestStadium tomorrow night!
Tickets: https://t.co/8XD9xl3pbI #PacificStepUp @dfat pic.twitter.com/PKz1X75qUT
— Qantas Wallabies (@qantaswallabies)
And Cheika says: “He's got through everything on the camp, hasn't had to be managed at all, so he's ready to go, definitely.”
Cheika would likely be happy just for Pocock to come through unscathed and enjoy a taste of Test rugby before they face Pool D World Cup rivals Fiji on Sept. 21.