Usually Cheika doesn’t bring up past results but when pressed on the foreboding sense of doom that usually greets visiting teams at Ellis Park - South Africa have won 16 of their last 19 Tests here - the Wallabies coach did note the last time Australia were here in 2008 they got obliterated. Loading That afternoon Robbie Deans’ men were trounced 53-8, which to this day is still the Wallabies’ heaviest defeat ever. "The last time we played here it wasn’t a great day for us and our goal is to turn that around and fight for Australia," Cheika said. "You’re with your mates and you’re out there fighting for your country on the field. What else could you ask for? Yeah, [it is] intimidating but you’ve got to stand up. It’s a big battle. If you ask the lads they’d be pretty keen to get out there."

This is the first Wallabies team during Cheika’s regime that is not completely ‘his’, for other selectors have had input in the best XV. They will start the first match of their truncated Rugby Championship campaign as firm underdogs and rightly so but writing off Australia in a World Cup year is fraught with danger, according to the Springboks coach who watched Stephen Larkham’s sensational match-winning drop goal sail through his own hands in the 1999 World Cup semi-final. "It makes everybody nervous," said Erasmus of the Wallabies in a World Cup year. "History tends to show they get it right. They were in the previous final. It makes you nervous because they tend to get it right. So that is why it is a massive game for us. "In the years I’ve been involved in World Cups, they get it right in the build-up. Coming here two weeks [before the Test] and getting used to altitude, having a bigger squad and sending some boys back, it just feels like they are really well planned and organised and it feels like they are really peaking towards the World Cup." There are at least 10 decent Australian storylines to watch out for, hence the level of intrigue in this match.

Is James Slipper still up to Test standard? Can Folau Faingaa sort out his lineout throwing? What can the old bull in Sekope Kepu muster? Will Harry Johnson-Holmes get a chance to debut off the bench? Is Lukhan Salakaia-Loto Australia's long-term No.6? Will Michael Hooper be ultra aggressive at the breakdown in David Pocock’s absence? Can Isi Naisarani put his size to use? Is this really Nic White 2.0? Will Bernard Foley cope without Kurtley Beale? Are Samu Kerevi and Tevita Kuridrani too much alike in the midfield? Are Australia's wingers Dane Haylett-Petty and Reece Hodge speedy enough to trouble good teams? And the biggest of the lot ... in the fair dinkum department, can Tom Banks really fill Israel Folau’s big shoes? There will be plenty to digest once the full-time whistle blows. When Australia played South Africa last year in Port Elizabeth, interest back home had waned. Two heavy Bledisloe Cup defeats left little to play for and the 23-12 loss was barely worth staying up late to watch. Now, with the World Cup around the corner, the latest team announcement has injected a fresh feel to a Wallabies side who know they owe it to the public to turn results around.