Ashley-Cooper plays full back for Australia

Sunday’s trans-Tasman showdown pits an out-of-sorts and under-fire Quade Cooper against the exuberance of late arrival Aaron Cruden, with the victor to lead his team into the final of Rugby World Cup 2011.

Australia coach Robbie Deans originally selected the same starting XV that beat South Africa 11-9 in Wellington but Wallaby hopes were dealt a blow with full back Kurtley Beale ruled out on Saturday.

The enigmatic Beale strained his hamstring late in the quarter-final victory over South Africa and failed to recover sufficiently to satisfy Deans that he would last 80 minutes against the All Blacks.

Adam Ashley-Cooper has taken over from Beale at the back, with Anthony Faingaa shifting to outside centre and Rob Horne on to the bench.

In the only other change, second row Rob Simmons has earned a bench spot, with 99-Test veteran Nathan Sharpe the man to miss out.

However the All Blacks are not without some injury questions of their own. It was revealed this week that captain Richie McCaw had been missing training as he nursed a painful foot injury through the tournament.

New Zealand have predictably named Cruden at fly half in place of the injured Colin Slade, with Stephen Donald providing cover off the bench should the injury curse strike again.

Israel Dagg returns to full back, while Richard Kahui has overcome a hamstring strain to take his place on the left wing.

Impressive composure

Sonny Bill Williams drops back to the bench and is joined by scrum half Andy Ellis in the only other changes to their match 22.

Two weeks ago Cruden was watching the World Cup from his couch, but injuries to Dan Carter and Colin Slade have suddenly thrust him into command of the All Blacks backline.

The 22-year-old showed impressive composure in New Zealand’s 33-10 quarter-final win over Argentina, but coming off the bench he avoided the opening 30 minutes when the defence was at its most fierce.

The resolute Australian defensive line will be a much harder nut for Cruden to crack than that of the tiring Argentinians, but coach Graham Henry has complete faith in his fly half.

“He's the man this week,” Henry said. “Last week he was a sub, so it's a big change for him, but he's a bright rugby player, he knows the game well, he's captained a lot of teams he's been in so he directs the traffic well.”

His opposing fly half Cooper may have played every minute of Australia’s World Cup campaign, but is yet to find the form that the Wallabies need from him if they are to triumph on Sunday.

The importance of his attacking game to Wallaby hopes has only been heightened by the omission of strike-weapon Beale.

Risky options

Cooper has demonstrated trademark flashes of attacking brilliance over the last month, but his game has also been consistently punctuated by instances of risky option-taking, a lack of cohesion with his back line and poor kicking.

Coach Deans said that an improved kicking performance is at the heart of jump-starting his fly half.

“From our perspective we have to kick better because we’ve kicked from poor positions and we’ve kicked poorly and that just compounds our circumstance,” he said.

“So if and when we kick we need to do it more effectively and if we do that, we’ll get more opportunity to play as well. At that point, yes, he’s off the leash.”

However if the Wallabies are to prevail on Sunday, they will have to overcome New Zealand’s notorious home ground advantage and the hoodoo of Eden Park.

None of the Wallabies have won against the All Blacks on Kiwi soil and 10 of their players were not even born when Australia last won at Eden Park in 1986.

Despite the intimidating history, Australia can take confidence from their recent 25-20 win over the All Blacks in Brisbane to claim the 2011 Tri Nations. They know that with Cooper on song, they have the firepower to beat the No.1 ranked team in the world.

Quiet focus

Yet All Blacks coach Henry believes his team are ready to rise to the occasion in what, for most of them, is the most important match of their careers.

"I think there's a quiet focus there, a quiet determination,” Henry said.

“The guys have been a bit quieter than normal, probably because it's such a huge game. It's probably the biggest game these guys have played in 10 years."

As for the man in the middle, Cruden, he is somehow just enjoying the ride.

"It's funny how things can change in two weeks,” he said. “It's a pretty awesome rollercoaster I'm riding at the moment and hopefully that can continue."