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LONDON: The Wallabies put their faith in a two-team rotation system that was fraught with danger, but veteran Adam Ashley-Cooper says the unusual World Cup tactic can help break the Wallabies' yoyo big-match curse.
The Wallabies face the biggest hurdle of their World Cup campaign when they deal with injuries and suspension ahead of a crucial clash against Wales on Saturday night (Sunday morning AEDT).
Israel Folau (ankle), Rob Horne (shoulder) and Michael Hooper (suspension) are set to sit on the sidelines as the Wallabies and Wales battle for top spot in pool A and a smoother path to the World Cup trophy.
There was also some doubt over inside centre Matt Giteau, who was left writhing on the ground in pain after being hit without the ball by England's Owen Farrell.
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika hasn't selected the same team for two Tests in a row in his tenure.
But his plan to rotate 29 players through the starting side in the first two games of the tournament is set to pay dividends with fringe squad members ready for their opportunity.
The Wallabies have managed to win one-off big games in recent years, but have failed to produce back-to-back, high-quality performances. Ashley-Cooper says that's the difference between being good or great.
"It's a really important Test for us, it's something we've wanted to address all year - being a good team, but wanting to become a great team and how to do that is being consistent.
"Consistency is something we've lacked over the years and we want to really test ourselves …When it comes to World Cup tournament football that consistency can really hurt you.
"That one game you have, whether it's sudden-death football or whatever, it can hurt you in the long run and you're packing your bags and heading home. We're aware of that and we'll be looking to go out and replicate the performance against England."
Cheika will name his team on Thursday with Sean McMahon and Ben McCalman competing for Hooper's back-row spot.
He made 14 changes after beating Fiji and another 14 after beating Uruguay, with prop Scott Sio the only man to be in the starting side for all three of Australia's World Cup games.
Hooper has been suspended for one week, but will be available for selection to play in the quarter-final.
Kurtley Beale and Drew Mitchell loom as the replacements for Folau and Horne, while Giteau's fitness will be tested in the coming days.
"It [depth] is something we really haven't had in a long time, we are going to be tested this weekend," Ashley-Cooper said.
"We are now calling on those guys who have been waiting patiently, they certainly have the talent to start Test match football and we will be relying on them this weekend.
"Everyone getting a run is going to benefit in the long run … so it's a good opportunity for the majority of the squad to [get experience], that is going to serve us well down the track if we have to rely on them again."
Beale and Mitchell were two of the stars in the 11 tries to nil rout against Uruguay.
Mitchell is Australia's most prolific World Cup try scorer while Beale was superb when he came on to replace Horne in a 33-13 win against England last weekend.
"[Beale's] a creative player ... he can set guys up and put them away, and use his own speed to capitalise on defensive errors," said Wallabies defence coach Nathan Grey.
"He's not Israel and Israel's not KB. They bring different skill sets, both of which are going to be very important to how we want to play as a team.
"There's a strong expectation that when guys do come in they hit the ground running and they've got a good understanding of how we want to play. They do what they're good at, they bring that to the table."
The Wallabies have been accused of being inconsistent in recent years and failing to back up big wins.
They won the first Bledisloe Cup match against New Zealand in Sydney earlier this year, but were smacked 41-13 a week later.
Last year they drew with the All Blacks in Sydney before being thrashed 51-20 the following weekend.
But one team they have managed to build an impressive record against is Wales, having beaten the Red Dragons in their past 10 Tests.