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Just a simple game of touch awaiting the Wallabies?
Australia's quest to capture a record third Rugby World Cup begins against Pool B minnows Japan in the group's opening game in Lyon on Saturday.
The Wallabies have waited long enough for the prestigious event to finally get underway and are itching to trade tackle bags for living souls - Japanese souls at that. It's been seven weeks since the two-time Rugby World Cup champs have even played a Test match.
The men in green and gold must be feeling a bit rusty and could not have asked for a better way to get the oil in their system flowing again against a minnow team like Japan.
But before the long-serving Cherry Blossom fans start unsheathing their samurais in anger at the above dismissal of their team, even they can't argue the fact that their team have not won a World Cup game since 1991.
Of course this isn't the only reason why the Australians should already start cracking open the celebratory beers.
Japan have not had the best luck leading up to the rugby spectacle in France, with injuries aplenty ruling key players out of action.
In their final warm-up game against Portugal, Japan lost their record try-scoring wing Daisuke Ohata as well as fly-half Eiji Ando with ligament damage to his right knee.
Hooker Mitsugu Yamamoto was also ruled out with a hamstring injury during the side's training camp in Italy, while other injuries over the season included the loss of first choice full-back Goshi Tachikawa (knee) and second choice fly-half James Arlidge with a broken left leg. Captain Takuro Miuchi also misses out on the World Cup festivities with an ankle injury, while another loss was flanker Glen Marsh who was denied eligibility to play for Japan by the IRB.
Now is also a good time to point out that coach John Kirwan has not even named his strongest side after opting to rest a number of his best men to focus their efforts against Fiji just four days later.
But Kirwan does have faith in his team and has told them above all things to believe in themselves.
With a full-strength Australia line-up standing by to take centre stage at the Stade Gerland, Kirwan, like the rest of his coaching staff, was delighted that the Wallabies had picked a well tuned side for the Pool B opener.
"Their whole team is competitive," said Kirwin.
"They are the second best team in the world and have lots of experience. They have picked their top side and that is what we wanted. This is a huge opportunity. We have nothing to lose."
Australia coach John Connolly is the one that Kirwan has to thank, with "Knuckles" obviously looking to stamp his team's authority in Pool B from the word go.
It almost didn't work out that way with the Aussies having to overcome some niggling injuries of their own at their training camp in Montpellier.
Backline stars Stirling Mortlock (back), Berrick Barnes (groin) and Adam Ashley-Cooper (groin) have all overcome their injury scares just days before their World Cup opener.
Prop Guy Shepherdson, who didn't look as though he would train this week after taking a knock to his left thigh, has recovered to take his place on the Wallabies bench.
The front row is an area that Australia have been working hard at to silence their critics and while Japan won't pose any real threat in that department, popular belief has it that the positions one, two and three will certainly be targeted at a later stage in the tournament.
Despite the detractors over the past few months, this is a remarkable Australian team that has a wealth of experience and talent to go all the way. It's no wonder they managed to attract a crowd of 10,000 at the team's first open training session at Stade Yves du Manoir where they witnessed an enjoyable game of touch rugby between the 30-man squad.
The French know a winning team when they see one and all eyes will once again be on the Wallabies as they try and keep the scoreboard ticking over against Japan.
And with a backline possessing big names such as Stephen Larkham, Matt Giteau, Stirling Mortlock, Chris Latham and Lote Tuqiri - it could just be another game of touch rugby for the men from Down Under.
Ones to watch:
For Australia: With the Wallabies boasting 235 Test caps between them, it's hard to pick out an individual who we haven't seen in all their glory already. Which makes us turn our attention to the bench where 21-year-old Berrick Barnes will be almost guaranteed his first Australia cap. The former rugby league player has all the qualities to make it big in this business at fly-half: pace, vision and a handy boot. The promising youngster will want to prove that his surprise inclusion in the Wallabies 30-man World Cup squad was the right call. Barnes has already tasted victory over Japan when turning out for Australia A in the 71-10 thumping in the Pacific Nations Cup.
For Japan: The forwards will be looking to hold their own at scrum time but with a lack of height in the line-out they will have to work hard to secure their own throws. Enter Lautangi Samurai Vatuvei. The Tongan-born lock weighs in at 120 kg - the heaviest in the pack - and stands just short of two metres tall. His performance will be critical if Japan were to stand any chance at the scrummaging exchanges and especially the line-out - where the backs will be relying on good ball to work with. As his middle name suggests, Vatuvei can cut through the defence like a samurai through hot butter and has nine tries from 20 games to show for it.
Head to Head: It will be a test of courage for fly-half Kosei Ono who will be opposing Stephen Larkham, considered by many to be one of the greatest playmakers of the game. Larkham, who is now 33 yearsold made his debut in 1996 when Ono was still only 9 years old. With 101 caps, including the 1999 and 2003 World Cups behind the Wallaby pivot, this will truly be a case of master versus apprentice. This is the swansong for Larkham on the international stage as he is set to leave Australian rugby after this World Cup. However, for Ono, at his age he has the potential to play another three, if not four World Cups.
Prediction: On paper it's turning out to be a long day at the office for the brave Japanese warriors. While a victory to Australia is forthcoming, it's the margin between the two teams that will be the tough one to call. Surely Japan won't suffer the same feat like they did against New Zealand at the 1995 World Cup when they were thumped 145-17! Or will they? Expect the Wallabies to make sashimi nigiri out of the Cherry Blossoms. Australia to win by 100 points or more.
Recent results:
1987 Australia won 42-23, Concord Oval, Sydney (RWC)
1975 Australia won 50-25, Ballymore, Brisbane
1975 Australia won 37-7 Cricket Ground, Sydney
The teams:
Australia: 15 Chris Latham, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Stirling Mortlock (c), 12 Matt Giteau 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Stephen Larkham, 9 George Gregan (vc), 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith (vc), 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Dan Vickerman, 4 Nathan Sharpe, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Matt Dunning.
Replacements: 16 Adam Freier, 17 Guy Shepherdson, 18 Hugh McMeniman, 19 Stephen Hoiles, 20 Berrick Barnes, 21 Drew Mitchell, 22 Mark Gerrard.
Japan: 15 Tatsuya Kusumi, 14 Tomoki Kitagawa, 13 Koji Taira, 12 Nataniela Oto, 11 Hirotoki Onozawa, 10 Kosei Ono, 9 Yuki Yatomi, 8 Hajime Kiso, 7 Takamichi Sasaki (c), 6 Yasunori Watanabe, 5 Luatangi Samurai Vatuvei, 4 Takanori Kumagae, 3 Ryo Yamamura, 2 Taku Inokuchi, 1 Masahito Yamamoto
Replacements: 16 Yuji Matsubara, 17 Tomokazu Soma, 18 Hitoshi Ono, 19 Hare Makiri, 20 Tomoki Yoshida, 21 Yuta Imamura, 22 Kosuke Endo
Date: Saturday, 8 September
Kick-off: 13:45 (12:45 BST)
Venue: Stade Gerland, Lyon
Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Touch judges: Dave Pearson (England), Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Television match official: Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Assessor: Bob Francis (New Zealand)
By Dave Morris
