Who would have thought that here we are with the first Tri-Nations match about to kick off for 2006 and the Wallabies are better than a half chance. Remember the depths of despair Wallaby supporters had reached last year, long time Broadside readers Bruce and Dave were on suicide watch and the Wallabies were an international embarrassment. I was in Singapore and I was constantly reminding laughing Poms that the Wallabies used to have tough forwards, they just looked down their nose at me and laughed. The situation was not helped by Star Sports constantly replaying the Wallaby scrum getting converted through the goal posts by a rampaging England pack.

I was thinking the other day that if Knuckles and his magic touch keep winning we may see T-Shirts at next year’s World Cup saying “In Knuckles We Trust”. A rip off of the wonderful Guus T-Shirts but the same sentiment, a World Cup Coach who has that something special. I was chatting with Scott Johnson last week and he was saying that the resurgence of the Wallabies has to have something to do with the massive forward pack the we are wheeling out these days, George Smith is the lightest at 107kg, the other 7 are all over 115kg. Knuckles and his Northern Hemisphere experienced coaching team of Axel Foley and Scott Johnson know that you need multiple lineout options and basically big units up front to win Test Matches these days.

Better halt the Knuckles worship session and look at the match with the All Blacks. Don’t worry folks if the Wallabies do fall over I will put the knife into Knuckles in the good old Broadside tradition, I think I may be losing it a bit as it seems light years since I have seen a Wallaby forward pack actually knocking people out of the way around the ruck. Anyway back to the “Awl Blecks” and they are looking a bit vulnerable at the moment, reading the NZ Herald last week I saw articles about booze sessions and skipping hotel room bills in Argentina. Henry was also giving the players a serve about complacency and he brought in a sports psychologist to remind the players about the All Black traditions and their responsibilities. There might be something in it as their form has been a bit indifferent of late, even taking into account the 40 players they have used in three Tests.

Contrast this to the Wallaby build up, they have been steadily improving have a settled squad and played some really good rugby in their last match against the Irish. The Wallabies are looking confident; they probably can’t believe the positive press they are getting when only 6 months ago they were a laughing stock and a standing joke amongst Rugby journos and the public. So Dave, if Centrebet were offering $3.20 for a Wallaby win considering they’re strong build up and an average All Black preparation, which way would you go? A 100 on the nose would be a fair response I would say.

I don’t think the Springboks will do well in this year’s Tri-Nations; they are really self destructing at the moment. The politics in South African rugby are absurd and it looks like they are prepared to have their internal battles with no concern for the National Team. Jake White should be supported for the duration of the Tri-Nations so at least the National Team is spared the distractions of the boardroom battles. The Bok’s were really poor in their last outing against the French; they were soundly beaten in the forwards and to Bruce’s dismay his hero Os du Randt was shunted around the field by the French tighthead prop De Villiers.
So my predictions for the 2006 Tri-Nations are;

1. New Zealand

2. Australia

3. South Africa

Look to South Africa to pick up a home game win against Australia or New Zealand. Kiwi’s will win but not as convincingly as last year, they will drop one game at least, hopefully the first match against Australia in Christchurch. Australia will finish a strong second, winning at home against South Africa and also hopefully picking up a win against New Zealand.

A big hello to Bruce Holden and his Darling Downs Under 16 Rep Team, they got me up to Toowoomba a couple of weeks ago to take them for a few sessions as they prepared for the Queensland Junior Championship’s. Bruce is the President and only member of my fan club and a long time Broadside reader. It was an absolute pleasure coaching his lads, they really got stuck in and it was great to see some blood spilt at training and bodies flying into the rucks, well-done lads. They also had a great tournament with 5 wins from 7 matches, 107 points for and 46 against. Go to Bruce’s website at www.15manrugby.com to see some more match reports and photos. What was also great to see was such a committed group of parents supporting the team, well done to all and I certainly enjoyed my Silver Service Taxi ride back to Brisbane.

I have to mention the Broadside readers in Fiji particularly the drivers at Taxi 2000 Nadi and my Godson Trent Collingwood. Trent is a keen rugby player and Broadside reader; hope he also downloads the Fiji music on the site. I have had a few emails from Fiji enquiring about the Gosford Bula Boys, unfortunately folks they are not the cool dudes you envisage they are just your typical muso’s, Kava swiping snakes I am afraid.