Wallabies aim to turn World Cup hopes to belief

The Wallabies departed for the United States on Saturday with coach Michael Cheika saying he wants to turn hopes for their Rugby World Cup campaign into belief. Australia are in a challenging group at the World Cup, which begins in England on September 18, and Cheika said he had sought counsel from those involved in previous winning campaigns. "I've been given excellent advice from many of the players and coaches who have been involved in successful World Cups and did successful coaching around tournaments," Cheika said at Sydney airport. "They've really given me advice of taking one game as it happens and be in that moment, and I'm going to do that." Cheika had said previously the Wallabies were hoping to bring the World Cup back to Australia, saying while they were not going into the contest as the world's best team, the goal was to leave it as such. "I think there's a lot of people who are genuinely hoping we do well," Cheika said Saturday. "Our objective is to turn a lot of the hopers into believers." The coach said lock Rob Simmons, who was ruled out of recent games against the All Blacks with a wrist injury, should be ready to face the USA in a final warm-up Test in Chicago on September 5. Australia open their World Cup campaign against Fiji in Cardiff on September 23 before tackling Uruguay, Wales and England, and must finish in the top two in Pool A to reach the quarter-finals.