Australia 16 British & Irish Lions 15

Off-field scandals continue to plague Australian mainstream sport

On a difficult night in Brisbane for the Wallabies, Ben Mowen was one of the shining lights for Robbie Deans’ wounded troops during their ill-fated opening match against the Lions.

Israel Folau is not your typical rugby league superstar, or Aussie Rules hero for that matter.

The importance of George North to Warren Gatland’s plan for the British & Irish Lions to beat Australia in Saturday’s first Test was underlined by the relief that greeted his clearance to play in Suncorp Stadium.

Paul O’Connell believes there is “savage competition” for places in the British and Irish Lions squad as the countdown continues towards next Saturday’s first Test against Australia.

Four games in and despite the fact that three of the Lions’ ‘contests’ had nothing like the competitiveness Warren Gatland is craving, his test side is beginning to take shape in Australia.

After two false dawns in terms of competitive opposition, the Lions tourists should finally get a taste of what Australian rugby has to offer at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane this morning.

Has it really been a year since Tony McGahan vacated the head coach’s role at Munster?

Former Munster head coach Tony McGahan has backed Simon Zebo, Peter O’Mahony and the province’s other young guns he helped to develop to follow Conor Murray as British & Irish Lions of the future.

Les Kiss is relishing the prospect of facing the All Blacks on their home turf over the coming weeks.

Returning Munster to the pinnacle of European rugby is the challenge new coach Rob Penney has set himself.

Munster director of coaching Tony McGahan’s appointment as Australia’s coaching co-ordinator has finally been confirmed by the Wallabies hierarchy.

WARREN Gatland put the Wellington boot into Ireland’s World Cup dreams here today as green dreams of the Webb Ellis Trophy went up in smoke.

SOUTH AFRICA’S flying wing Bryan Habana has praised Ireland for shaking up the World Cup following their famous win over Australia.

IT was the result of their lives but the feeling in the Ireland World Cup squad as it decamped to the shores of Lake Taupo yesterday was that beating Australia was just the beginning of the journey.

David Pocock has been withdrawn from Australia’s starting line-up just before his teams crucial World Cup battle against Ireland at Eden Park in Auckland, kick-off 9.30am Irish time.

THE ODDS are stacked against them and history suggests they haven’t a hope but there is something tangible about Ireland’s demeanour heading into the World Cup Pool C showdown with Australia that suggests something special is on the cards at Eden Park tomorrow morning.

IRELAND captain Brian O’Driscoll has urged his players to recapture the intensity that helped end England’s Grand Slam dream earlier this year for their World Cup Pool C showdown against Australia on Saturday.

Gordon D’Arcy refuses to be in thrall to Australia, claiming belief is the key to Ireland defying expectations at Eden Park on Saturday.

TOP rugby referee Jonathan Kaplan has been rested from his August Test duties in order to maximise recovery from minor injuries sustained during a road accident last week.

Australia 39 South Africa 20

THE three southern hemisphere giants step up their World Cup preparations with the start of the Tri Nations this weekend — but the tournament is unlikely to prove an accurate guide as to who will lift the William Webb Ellis trophy in Auckland in October.

Australia have made a disastrous start to their World Cup preparations after suffering a shock 32-23 loss to underdogs Samoa at ANZ Stadium.

FOUR years ago, the Irish rugby team failed to make it past the group stages of the Rugby World Cup for the first time after telling everyone and anyone that they had what it took to win the tournament.

Waratahs captain Phil Waugh has confirmed he will retire from rugby union at the end of the year to pursue a business career.

NOT content with courting a key cog in Declan Kidney’s Ireland set-up, Super rugby powerhouse the Brumbies seem intent on disrupting Munster’s build-up to tomorrow night’s primetime showdown with Leinster.

IRELAND backs coach Alan Gaffney yesterday emerged as a shock candidate for the vacant coach’s job at Australian giants the Brumbies.

DONNCHA O’CALLAGHAN has had many productive days in an illustrious career that’s yielded 65 Irish caps in eight years.

AUSTRALIA’S most capped Test prop Al Baxter believes Irish referee Allain Rolland deserves most of the blame for the Wallabies’ scrum woes against New Zealand in Hong Kong.

Australia’s most capped Test prop Al Baxter believes referee Allain Rolland deserves most of the blame for the Wallabies’ scrum woes against New Zealand in Hong Kong.

Australia 26 New Zealand 24

Scrum-half Will Genia believes Australia’s Tri-Nations campaign has laid the foundations for Robbie Deans’ men finally to beat New Zealand for the first time in over two years when they clash at Hong Kong Stadium tomorrow.

Australia 22 New Zealand 23

Adam Ashley-Cooper admits ending Australia’s losing streak against New Zealand is a major motivation ahead of Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup clash at ANZ Stadium.

Australia captain Rocky Elsom claims yesterday’s last-gasp victory against South Africa was one of the best Test matches of his career.

South Africa 39 Australia 41

Drew Mitchell believes all the signs are there for Australia to claim victory over South Africa and is hoping their plans will finally come together when the two meet in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

South Africa 44 Australia 31

South Africa lock Victor Matfield has again reiterated his intentions to quit rugby after next year’s World Cup as he prepares for his 100th game in a Springbok jersey.

Centre Jaque Fourie has urged South Africa to stick together as a team against Australia if they are to end the recent slump that has taken in four consecutive losses.

SOUTH AFRICA coach Peter de Villiers says Frans Steyn’s kicking ability was the decisive factor in his selection for the Tri Nations encounter against Australia on Saturday.

New Zealand are fully aware their purple patch could come to an end at any time ahead of tomorrow’s Bledisloe Cup clash with Australia in Christchurch.

Australia’s forgotten man Berrick Barnes has been recalled to the starting line-up for Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup game against New Zealand in Melbourne.