The Tri Nations is back this weekend and im excited for many reasons. Not only do we get to see a clash between to strog sides but also this is going to be a marker for New Zealand.

There has been a lot of hype after two wins against SA but lets be honest, whilst it was good to see and the team performed well, it was two wins against a lacklustre SA with home support.

Now McCaw and his men face an Australia team who seem more intent on running the ball than they do! It is going to be fast and a great contest at the breakdown. Pocock was exceptional against SA last week and McCaw has been back to his best.

Then looking at the backs, NZ showed what they can do and that they can pretty much do it from anywhere on the field. Then you have an Australia team who have, flair pace and youth. These kids will try something that your average player wouldnt dare do.

My heart says NZ by ten by my mind says it will be closer than that. Possibly 3-5 points. One thing is for sure, we will get a better idea of just how strong the ABs are looking if they can pull off a comfortable win away from home against the Aussies.

Do Robbie Deans men stand any chance of pulling off what on paper looks to be a 5 point game for New Zealand?

After the moral boosting win last weekend against a tired, homesick, all the world especially Irish ref's against us South African side they did look to run the ball from just about anywhere and only kick when needed but it will take a lot more to even get a bonus point against this NZ team.

The biggest factor and I am surprised to say this is the Cooper effect, for me Australia did not play as well when he was having his 10 min rest and Gits moved to 10 and with Quade missing for a couple of weeks can Mat up his game and bring the Australian backs into the game??

So its really not if but by how many NZ are going to win by this weekend.

Well Saturday was pleasing. Not only because i saw the World Champion South Africans take another loss but also becuase it showed that the first week's win wasnt a flash in the pan for NZ. The ABs kept the intensity, fire and most imporatntly, pace from the first test. It seems that they mean business.

Back to back wins and tries will please the rugby public in New Zealand but a trophy less campaign will not. So it is important that during their break they focus and build the intensity up for the Australians. I think it may be a bigger test than the Boks.

As for SA, there is no need to panic but suddenly they have a huge game this weekend. Australia are rested and have seen how NZ have swept them aside for the past two weeks. Couple that with the fact that SA havent won in Brisbane then suddenly the task is a big one for PDV and his men.

SA need to go there and use their experience. Dont try anything new or flash, get back to basics. Get the scrum working to give Spies a platform to run off. Get the line out working to give the backs front foot advantage. Also they need their big players to step up and i hate to point fingers but you, Habana! Get involved! He disappeared for the last two weeks. It is all very well and good, and this goes for the squad, being there and playing well when the going is good but when it gets tough, you need to stick at it. Dont hide.

So to this weekend. I think Australia will take this by around 12 points and i have a feeling, a small feeling, that we could see some special performances from their backs. We shall see....

Friday afternoons have become more exciting now that the Tri Nations have come into play. They have become even more exciting after the thrashing we gave the South Africans last weekend. However, anyone prediciting the same result again would be a fool.

In fact i sadly said to a few friends whilst in the pub last friday that NZ should not even bother attempting to take the Tri Nations trophy of the World Champions. I didnt think we looked sharp enough, even with a comfortable win over Wales. South Africa are a different prospect all together.

I was extremely pleased to be proved wrong though last saturday. Pride and passion and a hunger was shown and was something that i havent seen for a long time. Suddenly the string of mediocre performances and the fact that South Africa, one of two of the old enemies, were being touted as the best in the world, brought back a fire in the black jersey.

We played with pace, power and a dynamism that you would have expected from the men in green and gold. On the other side of things, South Africa looked stunned, lifeless and lacking ideas.

So where do we stand this weekend? Well it would be foolish to say the tide has turned and South Africa are no longer superior. They had an off weekend. That said i saw things in the New Zealand display that make me confident of a win this weekend although i feel it is going to be a very close affair. I cant see SA not scoring for a second consecutive weekend. If that is the case then serious questions will start to be asked. As for now, judgment needs to be reserved. One game cant tell a tale.

Oh and thought on Bakkies Botha.....i dont think you need telling but...he is an idiot.

Bring on tomorrow!

Alarm goes at 5am, and have to admit that I am already awake, as the nerves have kicked in....

We packed and loaded the bikes onto the back of the car to head down to Hampton Court for the start of the race. Mick (my brother in law) and I were fairly quiet in the car, Mick because he kept packing and unpacking his bags, something he did not stop doing until we arrived in Paris.

Hampton Court was heaving, and heaving with very fit looking cyclists who all looked confident, thin and ok in lycra.....

It is weird when you are walking into another sport, you know you are not good at it and you know that they all know you are not good at it....and to be honest I was bloody bloody nervous!

Mike and Ian were there, the other members of our team, plus the other 350 plus riders. We had received an email from the charity, Right to PLay, the day before saying that our fund raising of £42,000 would put 1500 kids through their programmes for a year, so great timing and we did mention it to each other a few times as our arses got worse and worse!

It was an amazing experience, not neccessarily a completely enjoyable one, but it was tough and bloody hard at times with the temperatures at 35+ on the road for eight hours at a go.

There was a hill outside Dover that was just brutal, it was just not funny, and I psyched myself out before it even started resulting in the worst cramps that I have ever had! In my quads, both, then my hamstrings, then my hip-flexors and calfs! All at once! I was kneeling by the side of the road leaning on my bike - the other riders must have thought that I was praying before taking on the hill...! Not if they had heard my language.....

The best part of day one was the Burger King was had before getting on the ferry! Bloody lovely! Burger, chips and coke, the food of champions.....

Day two was the toughest, rolling hill after rolling hill, interspersed with bloody long hills! One of the guys I was cycling next to summed it up perfectly 'F***ing hell, if we were in a car, we would be looking out saying what beautiful countryside, look at the lovely rolling hills... and all I can think of is f**k the rolling hills, I hate the f**king rolling hills' Had me laughing for quite a few miles.

Once you started day 3 you knew that it was nearly over, and although we had to complete 80 miles before lunch, once there we knew that we could smell Paris......or our guts were in a bad way.One of the ladies was shaking so badly at lunch she could not hold her bottle of water to drink. The shaking hands did provoke the inevitable jokes.....what a waste and all that..........luckily after a few litres she was ok to finish.

We rode in as one huge group of 350 into Paris, with the 25 odd outriders blocking off all the junctions etc. So we cycled up a deserted Champs Elysees - which was awesome. Shame I was too bloody knackered to take it all in.....

So after about 330 miles in three days, we finished. Standing around outside the hotel, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower it was hard to believe we did not have to wash out our bike bottles, get the powders etc ready for the next day, get the power bars into the tops, gels, jelly babies etc etc. We could stop and relax..............

It was a great feeling, so we got pissed.......which was very sensible when we were no doubt dehydrated anyway! But it was a good end to a pretty intense three days.

So apologies for my absence on here, a huge huge thanks to those that sponsored me and here's to being able to sit unaided in a few weeks............haha

Experience does count for so much and I have to admit to a big grin watching Thompson 'trying' to put his contact lense in when there was an injury! Brilliant! haha. It took him so long and if you watched closely he actually flicked it off his finger once the ref was not watching................

But hey, some people will no doubt get annoyed and say that is cheating.............

As for the game.........well this was the style and approach that we all hoped for last weekend, so a little late but very welcome none the less.

England played with pace, in attack and defence, they pressured the Aussie's with their defence, the hits were better and the intensity was better. In attack it was similar, forwards ran onto the ball, basic I know but it was missing last week, the backs were similar and there was more variety.

It is too simple to say that Youngs was the factor even though he was sharp, passing was crisp and he looks an awesome prospect, but there was far more to it than that. The backrow for a start were a different group of animals, Easter was strong on the ball, Croft immense in the line-out and Moody was back to hunting at his best. The were helped by a more dynamic front five with Lawes carrying powerfully and the scrum retaining it's dominance.

The forwards and at times the basks seemd to understand how important the tackle area was, and we were far more physical once there and far quicker to get there in sufficient numbers.

Above all it seemed that the mind set was right. Foden was counter-attacking from the off which showed the frame of mind was significantly different from the week before and how much more effective did he look as a player as a result. The back three are becoming an effective unit, I am still yet to be convinced of the balance in midfield. We still lack one centre with the vision and ability to pass with speed and accuracy and hence release that back three with even more effect.

I also did not understand the substitution of Youngs at such a crucial time?

Those points aside, to win against the Aussie's on their patch is a great achievement and massive congratulations to the players on that achievement. Hopefully they will now stick with that style and mindset as they move towards next year's World Cup

So Lawes is in, at last ,and so is Youngs as the two changes to the England team to face the Aussies.

I know it is easy to be negative and I have tried to be positive about England selection as often as possible, I suppose deep down I want Johno to succeed if I am being honest, and at times this makes me biased I admit, but the Lawes selection leaves me just a little confused.

Lawes was in epic form at the start of the season, but was deemed too 'green' and he needed experience before he could start for England. Being honest his form then dipped slightly, but now suddenly he is ready......?

I am waffling I know, but what I am trying to say is that I get the feeling that none of England's selections are ever pro-active, they are reactive. Foden was only picked for the last 6 Nations game after Armitage's from had really hit rock bottom.....Lawes was the new young buck ready to be blooded during the 6 Nations, but nothing............Youngs has been in amazing form but missed the first Test.............Barkley has been 'the' form midfield player at the end of the season and.................

If a player has the ability, then age is not an issue. And many players just can not perform at Test level because they do not have that ability, and no amount of seasons at club level will ever give it to them. I have always believed that young players should be given their chance, in an environment that encourages and develops.....

Players need to understand their roles within a team and be confident that those roles allow them to deliver their full potential. In that respect I feel very sorry for Care, he is a different animal for Quins and looks inhibited for England. I hope we are not saying the same about Youngs in a number of Tests......

I am also very concerned by the midfield. Hape and Tindall are not subtle, they are not players with guile, vision, distribution etc. They are brave, physical, honest. But to break down the Aussie defence we need nore than that, as shown by the first Test. So the creative responsibility falls entirely on Flood's shoulders............is that a good thing? He stikes me as a good guy, struggling slightly to impose himself at Test level, and needing a little help / encouragement to get him there. Instead he is left as the sole creative, the sole distributor..................not a great call in my book.

Yes any selection can be pulled to pieces, mine would be laughable I am sure. But I just wish we could see some pattern from England, some attack, risks, adventure, fire, pace, variety, anticipation, angles of attack, speed of hand and mind -all the things I am convinced that the likes of Ashton, Foden, Cueto, Barkley, Youngs and Flood possess, but are just not showing us.

Hopefully Wells will instruct his forward pack that quick ball, and plenty of it is the only way to break down Test defences. Slow, grinding pick and drives went out with my lot, let's move on FFS ! Part of me would like to see Ward-Smith in at 8, but maybe that is just a change too much, but he does have the power and pace that is needed at Test level on the hard grounds. Easter needs a big game, as do Croft and Moody at the breakdown where Aussie dominated last week.

Fingers crossed that we fire this time......

Let's be honest guys the 1st half of the AB's versus Ireland was men against boys and even then we are talking boys with not even the first sign of hair on their chests or chins> THe AB's started with real intensity and the Irish just had no answer at all. Their frustration was shown by Heaslip when he tried to knee Dan Carter in the head, bloody stupid and he couldn't even do that right. He was one of the stand out players for the Lions last summer, so a big loss to the Irish who were right under the hammer anyway.

The AB's coaches will be especially happy as they blooded 4 new caps, who all performed well. The issues they will not have liked will be that they got 52-7 up after 55 minutes and then just eased off the gas. They leaked 20 odd points at the end of the game which is just down to a lack of metal strength and focus.

THe one thing the AB's really need is depth as having watched the Boks beat France, the Boks looked worryingly good. I thought the French came to SA meaning business and yet when they threw all they had at the Boks physically, the Boks just took it and came back at them even harder. THe Boks dominated line-outs again and even had the edge in the scrum. The way they disposed of France is a warning to the rest of the World with the WC only 16 months away.

As for the English against the Aussies, well the last time Johno was in Aussie he lifted the Web Ellis, so he knows how to beat the Aussies. Not sure he knows what team to pick, whether to go for the old experienced guys and dog it out, or throw in the young bucks and see what they have got. I think he should be blooding more youngsters, see if they sink or swim. The English should be kicking themselves as that was a great chance to win in Aussie, but their defensive gate was pathetic. Yes they dominated in the set, but Moody needs to take the points when they are on offer.

The Aussie backs looked very sharp, a lesson the the Poms but the scrum coach will be under real pressure this week as they were shocking.

Oh yes, and the Welsh look the best of the Northern Hemisphere, they only lost by 2 points the other week.

Once you have congratulated England on their scrummaging, it is pretty hard to find any other positives to their game.

Australia on the other hand looked sharp, inventive, creative and unbelievably heroic in defence. They played with their heads up, they took on the forwards in front of them when running in open play, they attacked with pace and with variety in their line of attack, and not surprisingly it worked and worked well. All common sense really for an attack coach.......isn't it?

So what are England doing?

At times I have to hold my hands up and say I have no bloody idea. We seem to kick a huge amount of first phase possession, and OK that might well not be the most positive of strategies, but it is a strategy, but what is amazing is our chase!!! There were times when just one guy was chasing hard, and he was easily beaten. Now that is just simple preparation and attitude. No excuses. If you are to play a tactical kicking game, then your chase has to be good, very good and England's was poor, very poor !

I am not making excuses, but Danny Care seems to be straight jacketed into a game that is completely alien to him. Why? Didn't Burgess show us what a damage a threat at number 9 can do?

Also Australia are known to be a good defensive team, so to break them down you need creativity and guile. We pick Hape and Tindall in the midfield. Both strong, powerful men, but neither is known for his creativity, pace or guile. It struck me as a strange selection and sadly proved to be sterile in attack and even vulnerable in defence. At Test level you need pace for both, is that not obvious to the coaches?

And now for a terrible generalization, but the one game in the last ten or so that England have played, where we looked threatening, relaxed, natural even, was the performance against France. And it was a performance that was very 'un-Leicester'. Sadly the performance against Australia was classic Leicester, and yet again at Test level it failed. Yes the set piece has to be good, but it does not win Test matches as Australia have just shown us in bright Technicolor !

You need to place the defence in front of you, you need to attack it's weak points as it is right then, not as you pre-planned it to be. You need to attack it at pace, you need to vary your lines of attack, points of attack and ball carriers who do the 'attacking'. Sadly England do not seem to look at what they are attacking to see if there is a front five forward caught out of position, they do not attack with pace, with variety, or even with numbers.

Inevitably unless there is a huge improvement in the next Test, big and uncomfortable questions will be asked of the coaches, and the players as they can not abdicate all responsibility. But the coaches really should have had enough time to establish a style and an intent with this group of players. How can Ashton and Foden be so effective with the Saints, and yet so redundant with England......

The biggest glaring sign for me after this defeat is that England need to accept that Shaw, Thompson and even Easter might well be effective in the wet and mud of the Premiership, but on the hard grounds of the Southern Hemisphere it is time for younger more athletic models....

Now that is an explosive title.......but I hope this is a balanced piece.

Wales had a golden opportunity to beat South Africa this weekend, it was not a South African second string by any means, but it was weakened of that there is no doubt. So Wales, at home, had a great chance for their second victory, ever, over South Africa.

It did not happen.

I do not want to go over the technical points of the game, the scorers, the missed tackles etc etc, what interests me more is the mental side...

It does beg the question as to whether Wales have the mental strength to beat the Southern Hemisphere sides, and whether there is still a mental block about playing them..

I should know, we had it when I was playing for England and only towards the end could I honestly say that it had gone, and only in Martin Johnson's era did we ever dominate them.So I do know what it is like and how it feels.

We used to do all the right talking, all the right preparation, but deep down, and I mean deep deep down when you were alone in your room, you did not believe that you could win. The hype about the Southern Hemisphere was too ingrained, too deep and your felt that they had an edge....

I watch Wales at the moment and wonder if this is the truth with them. Skillful players, fit players, tough players, but maybe players that just do not believe.....

It took us, me, until we lost in the 91 World Cup Final to get really pissed off with the whole thing, and decide that enough was enough. I was f*****g livid, as we all were, and from then on I really believe our attitude and approach changed.

Wales need enough players with some steel, some real edge, who have had enough of nearly, enough of playing well but just failing, enough of mediocre, and have enough balls and fire to make sure they drag the rest of them along too.

If this is to be a great generation as Gatland alluded to, then they need to find some nasty bastards who will start to instill some real hard edge into the squad, a new code of behaviour and attitude that no longer tolerates 'nearly'......