The key behind the Wallabies' World Cup campaign

Belief will be the fuel the Wallabies feed on in the World Cup, according to returning back-row star David Pocock.

Pocock hasn’t played for five months because of calf muscle issues but has declared himself fit to face Samoa in Sydney on September 7 in the Wallabies final Test before the World Cup in Japan.

“Feeling good back training with the team and enjoying doing team training rather than just running on the side of the field,” Pocock told AAP at the announcement of the Wallabies squad on Friday.

Without Pocock, Australia have gone 2-2 this year, splitting Tests against world champions New Zealand, beating Argentina and losing to South Africa,

Pocock was widely acknowledged as one of the stars of the 2015 World Cup in which Australia exceeded most people’s expectations by reaching the final.

Two-time winners Australia aren’t generally considered one of the favourites this year, but Pocock believes there are reasons for the Wallabies and their followers to be optimistic.

“The belief in each other, the belief in the way that we want to play, the hard work we’ve been putting in,”‘ Pocock said

“There probably hasn’t been a huge amount of positive coverage of the Wallabies this year and thats the challenge.

“You want to be going out there and inspiring the next generation to want to play at the World Cup, boys and girls

“I feel like there’s so many good things happening in rugby and we’ve got to try and showcase that.”‘

Pocock’s return to fitness has reignited debate about the composition of the Wallabies back row.

Wallabies legend Tim Horan added to the debate earlier this week when he suggested Pocock should come off the bench and not start alongside captain Michael Hooper.

“It’s something for people to talk about, I don’t read any of it or think about it too much,” Pocock said.

“We’ll be working on combinations based on what Cheik (coach Michael Cheika) and the selectors want and go from there.”

While acknowledging the frustration of sitting out most of the Brumbies Super Rugby campaign, Pocock has focused on building momentum, physically and mentally.

“So when you do come back you feel like you’ve got a huge body of work behind you and you’ve put in the hard yards,” he said.

AAP