Former Australia spinner Shane Warne has hit out at the "disgraceful" treatment of Steve Smith by the media, stressing that the sacked captain "isn't Pablo Escobar".

Smith broke down as he tried to put into words the impact his actions had had on his parents.

SOUTH Africa coach Peter de Villiers has described Morne Steyn as a match winner after calling up the fly-half to replace the injured Ruan Pienaar for Saturday’s Tri-Nations Test match with New Zealand.

WITH the preliminaries against Wales and Fiji out of the way, Australia’s World Cup preparations begin in earnest with next Saturday’s Tri-Nations opener against South Africa in Cape Town.