London: Competition for places has made Australia more aggressive, according to Bernard Foley the hero of their World Cup win over England whose performance has made the Wallabies favourites to meet New Zealand in the final.
Foley and his teammates all insist they are concentrating only on playing Wales in the Pool A table-topping decider next Saturday.
But others are already looking forward to a Wallabies-All Blacks clash at Twickenham on October 31.
The Waratahs fly-half did not know he would be Australia’s first choice number 10 before the tournament. But his 28 point extravaganza that killed hosts England’s World Cup dream on Saturday has propelled him to the forefront of the World Cup stage.
The battle for places “has definitely helped,” said Foley.
It has been one of the features, along with the Wallabies reinvigorated scrum, brought in by coach Michael Cheika.
“The competition in every training session and the intensity the whole squad has applied on each other has put this team in a really good spot,” added the 26-year-old who has the moody but inspirational Quade Cooper as a rival for the fly half position.
But Foley said Australia must not be complacent after resisting England’s “extreme” pressure even though the victory has given them confidence.
“We have to worry about Wales next week and whoever after that we will focus on after that. For us it is week by week,” said Foley.
Star flanker Michael Hooper, however, could miss the Pool A decider with Wales after being cited over an incident during the crushing 33-13 defeat of England.
The incident concerning the 23-year-old - who along with fellow back row forward David Pocock were outstanding against England - took place in the 39th minute when he flung himself into a ruck leading with his shoulder which resulted in just a ticking off by French referee Romain Poite and a penalty being awarded to England when it was deep inside their own 22.
But with England out and South Africa battered after their defeat by Japan, others are already looking to a first ever Australia-New Zealand final.
If both top their respective pools they will be in separate halves of the knockout stage draw.
British bookmakers have made the clash their favourite. That makes the Twickenham match against Wales even more important. The All Blacks - who were sensationally beaten by Australia in the Rugby Championship prior to the World Cup - have already taken careful note of the way the Wallabies’ forwards dealt with England.
But both sides still have many obstacles. The All Blacks may have to play their World Cup nemesis France in the quarter-finals at the Millennium Stadium where their hopes of glory in 2007 were destroyed at the same stage of the tournament by the northern hemisphere giants.
The All Blacks also say they are taking the World Cup one game at a time - they next play Tonga in Newcastle on Friday - but they have noticed how the Wallabies overpowered England.
“Australia’s scrum was probably the biggest thing,” scrum-half Aaron Smith said.
Australia’s well-drilled eight won five penalties at the scrums. “Seeing what they did to England was massive. They looked really clinical and they’re looking really good,” said Smith.
Flanker Victor Vito was impressed by Australia’s tearaway backrow forwards David Pocock and Michael Hooper who are taking the fetching role - once ruled by All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw - to a new level.
“They’re been setting the standard all year and last night was another game where they showed what they can do,” said Vito.
They led the way with Australia’s eight turnovers and “that’s something that really made a difference for them and helped their team get the win.
“Their names were getting mentioned a lot so obviously England weren’t successful in nullifying them.”
