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MONTPELLIER - Battling Fiji, not Wales, presents as Australia's main danger in the rugby World Cup pool stages, according to grounded Wallabies scrum guru Alec Evans.
Evans has warned the Wallabies against taking the flying Fijians lightly when they line up for what is generally seen as a September 23 mismatch in Montpellier.
But the veteran skills coach firmly believes former Wallabies flanker Ilie Tabua's men have the unpredictable, unstructured game to upset the Australians.
It will be the Wallabies' third of their four pool B matches and comes eight days after the crunch clash with No 7-ranked Wales in Cardiff.
The winner of the September 15 match at Millennium Stadium is expected to top the pool and play the pool A runners-up, either South Africa or England, in the quarter-finals.
Evans, renowned as Australia's scrum doctor for his stellar work in the successful 1984 Grand Slam and 1999 World Cup campaigns, coached Wales at the 1995 World Cup and expects the Wallabies to overturn their two-match winless run in Cardiff.
"They have to be very, very careful of Fiji," said the 68-year-old, forced to withdraw from Australia's coaching staff due to lung complications following a training accident last month.
"The danger team for Australia is Fiji.
"It comes after Wales and they are very capable. They're wonderful rugby players.
"They will put together a very powerful side."
Evans said ex-Queenslander Tabua's style suited the Fijians and allowed them to play their natural attacking game.
In 2003, they took a foreign conservative plan to the World Cup under New Zealander Mac McCallion and failed abysmally while island neighbours Samoa played to their strengths and almost pulled off the upset of the tournament against England.
"While their set play is not up to World Cup standard, their ability to score tries from broken play makes them a very dangerous side," he said.
Fiji's full-strength side is a far cry from the team, missing their European contingent, which stumbled to a 49-0 loss to the Wallabies in Perth.
Also in Fiji's favour is that Australia plan to run out a second-string side in Montpellier after the top team plays the opening match against Japan on September 8 to build combinations and shed rust ahead of the Wales
Whereas the likes of George Gregan, Stephen Larkham and Matt Giteau will run the show for the first fortnight, the uncapped Berrick Barnes must take the playmaking reins with Sam Cordingley and Scott Staniforth either side.
Fiji have only made the quarter-finals once, in 1987, but almost shocked France in a memorable 1999 pool encounter.
- AAP
