NZer Anscombe to make Wales World Cup debut

“Any team that can beat the All Blacks, which they (Australia) did in the summer, and to win the Rugby Championship you are talking about an incredibly formidable force”, added Edwards.

The Australia Wallabies and the Wales Red Dragon are facing off for match 35 of the Rugby World Cup on Saturday (October 10), 11:45 am ET, at Twickenham in London.

‘I played 15 against the Waratahs and Folau climbed all over me on the high balls, ‘ said Anscombe.

“I watched them against England and they are a physical team”.

“It’s pretty well known that the northern hemisphere teams sometimes only have two weeks together before playing against the southern hemisphere lads, but that’s not the case in Rugby World Cup years”.

“Plenty can happen”, said the Papau New Guinea-born halfback.

England skipper Chris Robshaw rejected a late, potentially equalising penalty chance in favour of an attacking lineout when Wales won 28-25 at Twickenham 12 days ago. So, we just want to do our best against Wales.

The Wallabies remain wary of an injury-ravaged Wales outfit they’ve held an global stranglehold over for a quarter of a century, with “master coach” Warren Gatland and sharpshooter Dan Biggar firmly on their radar.

The 31-year-old – who like fly-half Quade Cooper traversed the Tasman Sea from New Zealand to don the green and gold of their bitter rivals – said it was the start a series of finals which he hopes will culminate in a historic third title on October 31.

“Wales plays exceptionally well for 70 minutes and then switch off when Australia up their game and win the match”. It’s a game that promises so much; the team who handles the pressure of the situation and adjusts to the breakdown interpretations of referee Craig Joubert will go a long way to securing passage through to the more serene side of the knock-out draw. We have to keep getting better in tournament play because other teams are improving.

“We’re not trying to predict anything from the opposition”.

“It is going to be a big game for us”. Whoever we play in the quarter-finals are going to be extremely hard so we want to continue building confidence and momentum.

Genia said the Wallabies could not afford to let-up for one instant against the Welsh side, who despite a plethora of injuries have defied the odds in the toughest pool.

And Gatland revealed that he has had contact with under-fire England head coach Stuart Lancaster, when he offered his support.

“We’ve stayed on a course of…enjoying ourselves but keeping ourselves on edge around the difficulty of our pool and it’s a qualification phase in itself”.

The inclusion of both Tipuric and Warburton was no doubt influenced by the threat of David Pocock and Michael Hooper – but the Wallabies will be without Hooper after he received a one-match ban for his hit on Englanf fullback Mike Brown.