Australia
Wallabies' World Cup opener spots on the line in Chicago
Sam Bruce in South Bend, Indiana
September 4, 2015
Will Skelton (L) and Israel Folau pose with some new rugby fans at Notre Dame © Alyssa Schukar for ESPN
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Wallabies coach Michael Cheika insists the changes to the side to take on the United States are all part of his wider World Cup plan but says some players will be playing for a start against Fiji in the tournament opener.

Cheika has named a vastly-different side to the one hammered 41-13 by the All Blacks in Bledisloe II; a team that drew fierce criticism after the coach made six changes to a side that had beaten the same opposition just seven days earlier.

The Eagles represent a far less daunting opposition than the All Blacks so the squad for the Chicago encounter was never going to generate much debate. However a handful of starting spots for the clash with Fiji in Cardiff still appear to be up for grabs with halves Nick Phipps and Bernard Foley very much in that category.

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"Yeah like I think what we did was just pretty much take a look at the guys who'd accumulated the most time in the Rugby Championship and we decided that we'd let them off; they've had a good component of rugby before the World Cup starts," Cheika said of his selections for the Test against the Eagles. "And then we've got a few guys who, I suppose, are in line to take for the first game that we want to play together and there's a few guys that have got an opportunity. So it's a bit of a mix and they're looking forward to the game; there's no doubt about that."

Phipps and Foley have been granted the perfect opportunity to nail down the half-back and fly-half positions, respectively, for the Fiji clash; but they will need to perform from the outset with Will Genia and Quade Cooper included on the bench.

Cheika said he never entered a match with a pre-conceived idea about how to use his replacements, but revealed utility Kurtley Beale could see some time at inside-centre after limited opportunity during the Rugby Championship.

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"I never prepare like that; I just go into the game and see how it flows and work it out from there," he said when asked if Genia and Cooper would be brought on after half-time. "I probably want to have a look at Kurtley Beale at inside-centre as well; so he might get the chance to play there and that might mean Quade playing a bit of full-back. So we'll just see how that pans out."

The Wallabies are expected to run up a score against the Eagles, who are coming of a defeat to English club side Harlequins from last weekend. The All Blacks posted a 74-6 victory at Soldier Field last year yet Cheika appeared to be less concerned with this week's scoreline and more the way in which the players went about their business.

"It's a Test; it's not a discovery now," he replied when asked what he hoped to gain from the Soldier Field clash. "We've had a couple of stages, for this team in this sort of era, I suppose. We had the spring tour where we got to know each other or we didn't really have an idea because it was all so late. The Rugby Championship; we had a bit more time to try a few things. But at this stage now it's 'let's play'; these are the combinations and it's all about match decisions and getting experience in really making good decisions in match because in the tournament play of the World Cup that will be critical."

The Wallabies have been taking full advantage of Notre Dame's facilities © Alyssa Schukar for ESPN
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The Wallabies arrived in Chicago on Thursday afternoon after almost a week at their University of Notre Dame training camp. The entire squad, minus non-World Cup players Sam Carter, Taqele Naiyaravoro and James Hanson, will return to Notre Dame on Monday morning for more preparation; a scenario Cheika said couldn't have gone any better.

"It's been brilliant really; I didn't imagine it would be as good as it's been," he said. "Obviously the campus is so conducive to wanting to have excellence. You know everything here is so well done and has a lot of history; you just walk by the (Football) stadium and you feel it, especially with the big game they've got this week against Texas; you can feel the build-up. And then for us, having the facilities that they've provided has just been excellent and we're going to get a few days now up in Chicago and then back down here for another week's work before we head off. So it's been really good and (there have been) no distractions; we've been able to just do our own thing, relax.

"When we walk into the Starbucks there on campus everyone looks at us and says 'who are these guys dressed in the fluorescent colours?' But everyone has been very welcoming and a lot of people know about the rugby on campus, so it's been good."

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