The battle for top spot commences on Saturday at Twickenham, as Australia face-off against Wales in a win-and-you-are-top-of-you-group Pool A match of the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
Wales and Australia have had to earn their places in the quarterfinals of the RWC, with both teams picking up wins over the hosts England, albeit in contrasting fashion.
While the Wallabies proved to be just too good for England, Wales came back from the dead to upset Stuart Lancaster's men.
In a ridiculously tough group, that also had Fiji, Wales and Australia have come out smiling, but both teams will want those smiles to get that little bit wider at the end of the 80 minutes of rugby on Saturday.
"We are still right in the middle of what is pretty much a war zone and Saturday will, I feel, be the most brutal game we are going to encounter in the pool," Australia coach Michael Cheika said.
"It has been physical so far, but my knowledge of tournament play tells me that the further on it goes, the more brutal it gets because the stakes get higher and everyone wants to win more. "
Wales have picked out Bernard Foley as the danger man for the Wallabies, after the fly-half's sumptuous performance against England, and Cheika has asked his forwards to "do their jobs" in order to protect the Wallabies main man.
"It's for our forwards to do their job and give Bernard and for that matter all our backs a chance to play," Cheika added. "Teams will always target the five-eighth. It is pretty standard fare and I think they will go after him but it's really a job for our forwards to make sure that doesn't happen.
"The old-fashioned way of playing hasn't changed. Rugby is based on the platform of the forwards, more often or not. And if the forwards deliver a good platform it will be difficult for them to do that."
The winner of this group will, most likely, avoid a quarterfinal clash with the Springboks, and that will act as motivation for both teams, with Warren Gatland also desperate to end Wales' miserable run against the Wallabies – Wales have not beaten Australia in their last ten matches.
"The last five times there has been a score in it," Gatland said. "We've been ahead in games and we haven't been able to finish it off. You learn from those experiences and I'd like to think we have demonstrated that in the big games."
Where to Watch Live
Australia vs Wales is scheduled for a 4.45 pm local time (9.15 pm IST, 11.45 am ET) start. Sony Six will show the Rugby World Cup match live in India on Television.
Audience in Australia can watch Wallabies vs Wales live on Fox Sports, with the live stream option on Foxtel Play.
Viewers in the UK and Ireland can watch the match live on TV on ITV1, with the online live stream option on ITV Player.
SuperSport will show the match live in South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa, while the match can be live streamed on SuperSport Live Video.
New Zealand viewers can catch their rivals play Wales live on Sky Sport, while the action can also be watched via live streaming online on Sky Go NZ.
Audience in the USA can watch the game live on Universal Sports, while all the Rugby World Cup action can also be live streamed on Universal Sports Online. Viewers in Canada can watch Wales vs Australia live on TSN and TSN TV.
Teams: Australia: Israel Folau; Adam Ashley-Cooper, Tevita Kuridrani, Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell; Bernard Foley, Will Genia; Scott Sio, Stephen Moore (C), Sekope Kepu, Kane Douglas, Dean Mumm, Scott Fardy, Sean McMahon, David Pocock.
Replacements: Tatafu Polota-Nau, James Slipper, Greg Holmes, Rob Simmons, Ben McCalman, Nick Phipps, Matt Toomua, Kurtley Beale.
Wales: Gareth Anscombe; Alex Cuthbert, George North, Jamie Roberts, Liam Williams; Dan Biggar, Gareth Davies; Paul James, Scott Baldwin, Samson Lee, Luke Charteris, Alun Wyn Jones, Sam Warburton, Justin Tipuric, Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: Ken Owens, Aaron Jarvis, Tomas Francis, Jake Ball, Ross Moriarty, Lloyd Williams, Rhys Priestland, James Hook.
