The Wallabies are wary of an Italian ambush in their Rugby World Cup opener but are welcoming the chance to show their much maligned scrum has improved.

Coach Robbie Deans declares the team is ready for the challenge.

He says all 30 players were fit and available for selection on Sunday.

He suggested Australia would field their strongest line-up, which could mean a recall for winger James O'Connor following his one-match team suspension.

Deans said Australia couldn't afford to ease into the tournament and had to hit the ground running against Italy.

"They will have some plans, they will be lying in wait and they will throw everything into this first one," Deans told reporters on Monday.

"They will be expecting us to be vulnerable as well, just the fact that we won our last outing makes us potentially vulnerable if we don't get our heads around it, that what we are going into is different."

The Australians are bracing themselves for an intensely-physical clash at Auckland's North Harbour Stadium on Sunday, especially in the scrum, where the Wallabies are adamant they have advanced.

"There's been good signs but this is the litmus test to be frank because they look to their scrum," Deans told reporters.

"They (Italy) will look to go for a pushover try from their own 22, that's how much they enjoy scrummaging, but we're aware of that.

"It's a challenge that we're really looking forward to, to be honest, it's a great opportunity for us to show the progress that we have made.

Wallabies prop Ben Alexander said the Australian scrum had developed "heaps" in recent times.

"It (scrummaging) is going to be a big decider in who wins on the weekend but, if we put out a good performance, I don't think it would stop sides still wanting to attack us at scrum time but that's fine," Alexander told reporters.

"Scrummaging changed (in 2010) with the way it was interpreted and the way it was slowed down, the engagement process and maybe we didn't evolve as well as a lot of the other scrums did, so maybe we got left behind.

"But we think we've done a lot of work to catch up."

He said it was the mentality of the Italians rather than any technical or size factors that made them a formidable scrummaging unit.

Recently-appointed Wallabies captain James Horwill said he was enjoying the job after replacing Rocky Elsom.

"The group has been really responsive to me and very supportive of what I've been doing," Horwill told reporters.

While he didn't directly come out and tell a crowd of around 2000 people at a farewell for the team in Sydney that Australia would win the World Cup, Horwill left little doubt the Wallabies had the potential to do so.

"I think the group we've got definitely has the ability to get the result we want, but we can't think too far ahead. We're worried about Italy this weekend," Horwill said.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP