The sides currently ranked second (Australia), third (England) and fourth (Wales) in the world are fighting for two qualification spots from Pool A. England have dropped George Ford, with Owen Farrell, Sam Burgess and Brad Barritt forming a new-look midfield. Scrum-half Gareth Davies will make only his second start for injury-hit Wales. Wales coach Warren Gatland is without a number of key men for the tournament, with first-choice scrum-half Rhys Webb and British and Irish Lions duo Leigh Halfpenny and Jonathan Davies ruled out because of injury. The winners of the Group A game will take a massive stride towards qualifying for the quarter-finals, with the losers realistically needing to beat Australia to avoid an early exit.