Rugby World Cup

Australia's Israel Folau has shaken of an ankle injury and will take his place in the Rugby World Cup clash with Wales on Saturday, while Sean McMahon has won the race to replace the suspended Michael Hooper.

Fullback Folau had been in doubt for the Pool A decider at Twickenham for much of the week but was finally deemed fit on Thursday morning after sitting out a couple of days of training.

Australia have made three changes in total to the side that defeated England last weekend with winger Drew Mitchell and lock Dean Mumm stepping in for Rob Horne and Rob Simmons respectively.

In what was the biggest selection debate of the week, Wallabies coach Michael Cheika opted for McMahon over fellow back-row Ben McCalman despite the Western Force No.8 being preferred on the bench last week. McMahon plays in a similar fashion to Hooper - who received a one-match ban for an illegal cleanout on England full-back Mike Brown - and that familiarity at No.7 saw the impressive youngster win out over the steadier McCalman.

Cheika said the Wallabies remained focused on winning each of their games, and are approaching the clash with Wales from that perspective rather than considering the ramification of victory ahead of the knock-out phase.

Israel Folau© Dan Mullan/Getty Images

The head coach told a packed media conference on Thursday morning that the focus was to "not necessarily win the group - even though one's a consequence of the other. I just want to try and win every game individually. 

"Like I've said before, no team has ever won the World Cup losing a game and we want to work on our improvements each week, which you know in tournament play you have to do.

"You have to keep getting better because other teams are improving, everyone's playing around each other; some teams start a bit slower and are getting a move on. So you have to continually improve and, obviously, by consequence of winning each game, you win your pool. 

"I don't subscribe to the theory that, 'oh you win you pool you'll get an easier run', because that's disrespecting the opposition and that's not what we're about, you know?

"So we just want to really do our best against Wales. It will be a big game for us, and we want to enjoy that part of it, but also be ready for a massive battle. It's going to be pretty painful I reckon - it's going to be a tough game."

Cheika said team management would continue to monitor Horne's progress over the coming days to see if he would be able to play any further part in the tournament. The winger left the field early on against England with a shoulder injury, and while scans on Sunday revealed the damage wasn't as bad as originally feared, he has played no part in training this week.

Australia team to face Wales:

Israel Folau, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Tevita Kuridrani, Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell, Bernard Foley, Will Genia; David Pocock, Sean McMahon, Scott Fardy, Dean Mumm, Kane Douglas, Sekope Kepu, Stephen Moore, Scott Sio.

Replacements: Tatafu Polota-Nau, James Slipper, Greg Holmes, Rob Simmons, Ben McCalman, Nick Phipps, Matt Toomua, Kurtley Beale.