The Wallabies must fire first up at the Rugby World Cup or risk suffering a Pacific-sized dent to their hopes of claiming a third title.
An opening pool fixture against Fiji looms large in Sapporo on Saturday next week and could send Australia hurtling to a piece of unwanted history if they don’t secure victory.
Only the Wallabies, All Blacks and France have reached the quarter-finals at all eight previous tournaments but Michael Cheika’s team run the risk of failure if they can’t contain the Flying Fijians.
A second pool game awaits against pool heavyweights Wales a week later.
Lose both and the winnable clashes against Uruguay and Georgia will probably be rendered irrelevant, making for a nightmarish final fortnight in Japan and a humbling return home.
Beating ninth-ranked Fiji will virtually guarantee a passage to the quarter-finals, where England, France or Argentina probably await.
However, the ninth-ranked Pacific Islanders will be in their element, playing on a hard track in hot conditions and with a full arsenal of experienced European-based professionals motivated to perform.
Former Wallabies skipper Phil Kearns said closing down superstars out wide such as former NRL phenomenon Semi Radradra will fall on the shoulders of the Australian tight five.
He likes what he’s seen this year from the big men, whom he picks to not only dominate against lower ranked teams but to also stand up to proven packs such as the Welsh.
Locks Izaak Rodda and Rory Arnold have been exceptional this year, Kearns said, while the front rowers proved they’re up to the task in the hammering of the All Blacks in Perth last month, even if they did regress in the loss at Eden Park a week later.
“When your locks are firing and your front row’s going ok, then you’ve got the basis of a team that can do well,” Kearns told AAP.
“Scrummaging is so mental. We saw in those two Tests that Australia dominated in Perth and then got pole-axed the following week.
“The physical capability of the Wallaby pack didn’t change but maybe the mental approach did. That mental capacity to perform every week and even from scrum to scrum will be so important, whoever we’re playing.”