How about the Tri-Nations tournament this year? Is it not the best in...well almost forever. If not the best, the certainly the closest. A hotly fougth contest that will come down to the wire between the All Blacks and the Wallabies in Brisbane on 13 September. It is going to be fantastic. All those Wallabies fans out there will be watching to see if their team can pull off a two win tour of the Republic - an historic event to be sure. The suspension of Elsom will have riled many, and may yet be overturned. However, it is sure to have caused disruption in the preparation for this weekend's mighty clash against a Bok side that will be more desperate than the South Africans have been in generations to come away with a win...but if they weren't desperate before now, what does it take with this team? Being held to nil for the first time on home soil by a mediocre All Blacks performance should have given them cause to rally, but it didn't and they were well beaten by Aussie. The only question is, do they have anything left in them to pull out this weekend? Time will tell...

Hey Fellow Super 14 Fanatics, the 2008 season is not far off, and is starting to make the sports news coverage. As is typically the case, there is a paucity of pre-season information about the teams, changes that have been made, and even coverage of the pre-season games that give a poor indication of the form we can expect from teams during the coming season!

There is a significant level of interest in this season's competition however, due in part to the departure of Robbie Deans for the fair shores of the Lucky Country at the end of this seasons Super 14 to coach the Wallabies. One last swan song at the helm of the Crusaders awaits NZ's most unlucky coach in recent memory. Who'd have thought that the All Blacks would retain a losing coach after the worst World Cup performance ever? The question that remains to be answered, and only time will tell, is whether or not the decision shows some maturity on the behalf of NZ Rugby, or if it is self interest at the highest levels of the NZRFU? As for Aussie, they fared no better and fell to an England team that played it tight and hard. South Africa, champions and deservedly so for no other reason than they played to their strengths, did not falter, and followed a game plan. A well deserved win for the Southern Hemisphere, but hopefully the South has been disabused of the arrogance that continually leads to supposed 'upset' victories when the teams actually play a full strength norther hemisphere side.

In any event, this blog is back underway. Posts are likely to be weekly until competition time when they will revert to daily or every two days during the season. Also I have found several newish sites that may be of interest to readers that feature some of the action from rugby around the world. I'll be adding those links in the near future. I'll also set up a poll where readers can choose the team they think will take out the competition this season. If you ask me, the Crusaders will win, but hey, let's see if some of those Blues fans come back to this site again! Keep those comments coming.