This saturday throws up a great game bewtween Australia and New Zealand. They have an 100% record, have the core of team working well and are throwing the ball about and are trying to play the game at pace. Will we see now if they are true world cup contenders? What you probably dont realise is that i am talking about Australia...

New Zeland have looked very strong, yes but Australia hae had something building for quite a while now and i finally think it is all coming together. The team is starting to click. They are a close unit and so young that they will be at the top of their game at the World Cup.

Many are picking a NZ win and saying that it is not a matter of will they win but how much will they win by. A NZ win is by no means out of the question but there is a part of me that sees Australia taking the points this Saturday. Giteau is playing very well at the moment and is pulling the strings and as Zinny says, they have, and i dont want to use this description but i have to, the 'X Factor.' That bit of flair that can change a game.

The sane bet would be to say a NZ win but ill put it out there....Australia by 5-10.

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.

What a difference two games makes then! Tries, great defence, a fast pace and a hunger has got the Rugby World talking about the ABs once more.

And it was good to watch. It was enjoyable to see them play freely, quickly and it really looks like they want this trophy. Clearly watching South Africa take the plaudits for a year or so was too much to bear. In two games, they have leapfrogged the Boks and dont look like looking back.

And should the rugby world be worried? Well yes. Many have been quick to say that we have seen this before, the traditional peak before the WC. But with the tournament being down in NZ this year things look ominous. With quick ball it seems NZ can score from anywhere. Couple that with this confidence they have as they continuosly run the ball from their own 22 for two or three phases before kicking it, then things look very ominous.

Then there is the depth in talent and the boy Dagg. That was some try. He played against Wales in both tests and was exceptional in the first and solid in the second. He can play a bit cant he...?!

South Africa need to stay calm and not panic. They have a huge task ahead of them, playing the Aussies where they are yet to win. But they are experienced enough to go there and fight for a victory. Should be great game!

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....

Andy Powell has headed to Wasps. Would i say that i was suprised? No i wouldnt. There have been rumours for a long time about many clubs and I think after the year he has had it was good for him to get out of Wales and away from Cardiff.

I think in his eyes he will have an eye on securing a better place in the Wales side. He didnt have a great Lions tour, got a bad injury and then had the whole buggy at 4am saga. None of this has helped him. The good news is Shaun Edwards. I think he will get some good direction from Edwards who is known to keep things organised and his players focues. A good season for Andy Powell could see him starting for Wales in New Zealand 2011.

The same cant really be said for our old friend Gavin Henson. I feel let down by Gavin and i know a lot of Wales fans do too. He split up with Charlotte Church and whilst no one wishes that sort of thing upon anyone, many people thought it was a good move as he would now focus on his rugby and be back to his best. However word from the Ospreys camp is that he has not featured in pre season training. Couple that with rumours that he is preparing for his next role as a competitor on strictly come dancing then fans have every right to be aggreaved. This guy was a good player, not great as he never acheived that status but he was a very good and promising player. He is throwing all that away and sadly missing out on a very good career. Similar to Andy Powell, if he focused and got a solid season under his belt then he would be down in NZ for the World Cup. Only difference between the two of them is that one of them wants it....

And finally the Tri Nations. New Zealand look very good and showed that they have found that extra gear that people were accusing them of lacking. They were strong, quick, clever and dynamic. Is this their classic peak before a World Cup. I dont think so. I think it was just as much NZ playing well as it was SA having a bad day at the office. It will be a closer game this weekend but ill still go for a NZ win.

Bakkies Botha.....it is very easy to cross the line between being the hard man or the enforcer and being an idiot isnt it?!

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!

It is interesting that the company Rugby World Cup Ltd has seen fit to beat up on a social network like that on the Kingsland Rugby Club where ordinary rugby fans can interact on the net about things rugby and the obvious topic of the rugby world cup which will be happening here in New Zealand in a little over 12 months from now. I joined this network because I liked the connection the Kingsland Rugby Club has with the pioneers of the sport here in Auckland, New Zealand. The thought that the final of next years world cup will be played on Eden Park is of particular significance to the Kingsland Rugby Club since many of the members of the club drained the swamp and tilled the soil to allow the land to be developed into what we now know as Eden Park. Could Rugby World Cup Ltd care of such a connection? To many New Zealanders such history is important. We are a young country lacking the historical monuments of Europe and much of the 'old world' and I think the connection to our rugby pioneers through the likes of this Kingsland Rugby Club is an important factor in our 2011 Rugby celebrations just ahead. In similar manner I can't help thinking of my own father who was one of a group of NZ soldiers who were the first to be captured by the Japanese as they stood guard on a lonely outpost in the Pacific. Dad and his fellow soldiers were dropped off with the promise of being picked up later on; of course the pick up never came and they were taken prisoner by the Japanease. Dad survived the POW Camp in Japan but rarely spoke about his experiences when he came home. Like Harry Barton of the Kingsland Rugby Club who fought in the battle of Passchendaele in the First World War and Russell Hayhow who fought around the Pacific in the Second World War my dad did his part to secure the freedoms we now all enjoy by being captured by the Japanese and becoming a Prisoner of War. We are told this Kingsland Rugby Club exists to honour the memory of great pioneers of our city of Auckland and I would like to add my own dad to that list; unknown to most but in an intangible way our nation is indebted to such great men and women in their selfless giving on our behalf. 

Roll on the Rugby World Cup. When all is said and done the issue of "trade marks" pale to insignificance when measured against the paradigm of the 2011 celebrations in the context afore-described.

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Premiership title odds:

Leics - 7/4, Northampton & Bath 4/1, Sarries 7/1, Wasps 9/1

Outsiders then - Gloucs & Irish both 14/1, Quins 25/1, Sale 40/1 With Newcastle, Leeds & Exeter longer odds.

Interestingly, Johnno's EPS and saxons squads to a certain degree reflects that the better players, play for the better clubs. Tigers (10), Saints (8), Bath (7), Sarries (6) & Wasps (9). Gloucs have 5 whilst Irish, Quins and Sale all have four. Newcs, Worcester, Leeds, Stade & Toulon contribute the remainder.

Wasps worth a silly fiver?