Fitness boost for Wallabies

Kurtley Beale, Digby Ioane and Pat McCabe will return to the Australia line-up for Sunday's quarter-final.

Beale, Ioane and McCabe raring to go

Kurtley Beale, Digby Ioane and Pat McCabe will return to the Australia line-up for Sunday's quarter-final encounter with South Africa in Wellington. Beale (hamstring), Ioane (thumb) and McCabe (shoulder) had been struggling with injury but they have been passed fit - with coach Robbie Deans reverting to the same starting XV that beat Italy in the opening game. That means a total of seven changes from the side that overcame Russia last time out. Beale takes the No.15 jersey as part of a rejigged back division, with James O'Connor moving to the wing and Ioane returning on the other flank for Radike Samo. McCabe is preferred at inside centre, with Berrick Barnes dropping to the bench. Samo is restored to his favoured No.8 position, with flanker Rocky Elsom, second row Dan Vickerman, tighthead Ben Alexander and loosehead Sekope Kepu all reinstated to the pack. "We've gone with the players and the combinations, which have served us best through the year to date," said Deans. "Obviously injury and managing individual player work-loads has been a factor in selection through the tournament so far, but fortunately a lot of the injury problems that we've had are now behind us. "The players that are coming back into the team after breaks are good to go." Australia: 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 James O'Connor, 13 Adam Ashley Cooper, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Radike Samo, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 James Horwill (capt), 4 Dan Vickerman, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Sekope Kepu.
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota Nau, 17 James Slipper, 18 Nathan Sharpe, 19 Ben McCalman, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Berrick Barnes, 22 Anthony Fainga'a