IF Munster’s pre-season form is anything to go by, then the team will improve on last year, according to centre Rob Henderson.

Luke McAlister is undaunted by the challenge of stepping into New Zealand hero Dan Carter’s boots for the final Test against the British and Irish Lions on Saturday.

LIONS captain Brian O’Driscoll is relishing the chance to quickly atone for his side’s defeat to the New Zealand Maori against Wellington on Wednesday.

A SLIGHTLY experimental All Blacks will face Fiji in their first test of the year tomorrow as coach Graham Henry fine-tunes the side ahead of the three-test Lions series.

Former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio will lead the northern hemisphere team in Saturday’s IRB Rugby Aid tsunami fund-raising game against their southern counterparts at Twickenham.

CLIVE WOODWARD yesterday announced his northern hemisphere squad for the Tsunami rugby aid match against the southern hemisphere at Twickenham on March 5.

Clive Woodward today announced his northern hemisphere squad for the Tsunami rugby aid match against the southern hemisphere at Twickenham on March 5.

New Zealand coach Graham Henry was true to his word today when he named his team to face England in Dunedin on Saturday.

Italy’s coach John Kirwan has insisted his illustrious All Blacks career will count for little on Saturday when the Azzurri open their World Cup campaign against New Zealand in Melbourne.

The continuing misfortunes of Andrew Mehrtens and Jonah Lomu continue to dominate the build-up to New Zealand’s Tri-Nations clash with Australia on Saturday.

John Mitchell returned to his strongest possible line-up for New Zealand’s twin assault on the Bledisloe Cup and the world number one ranking this weekend.

Brad Thorn will make his first Test start in New Zealand’s Tri-Nations clash with South Africa on Saturday in a line-up that features five changes from that which thumped Australia 10 days ago.

JOHN MITCHELL has dropped captain Anton Oliver from the All Black side to contest the annual Tri-Nations Series with Australia and South Africa.

New Zealand coach John Mitchell has wielded the axe after his side’s weekend defeat by England.

Matt Dawson is out of England’s Test match against New Zealand in Wellington after failing to overcome a thigh injury.

England will be unchanged when they take on New Zealand this Saturday after head coach Clive Woodward today named the same starting line-up that defeated Ireland in the Six Nations Grand Slam decider.

NEW ZEALAND have named five new caps in a side featuring 10 changes for Saturday’s clash with Wales at the Millennium Stadium.

THE WORLD Cup is a year away but today the Six Nations champions France will pit their talents against the Tri-Nations victors New Zealand in what can be termed the unofficial world championship of 2002.

Christian Cullen, the leading try-scorer in New Zealand's Test history, is back at full-back this Saturday's clash with the high-riding French team at the Stade de France in Paris.

Christian Cullen's recent see-saw International career took another down-turn with the news that he has been dropped in favour of Leon McDonald for the All Blacks crucial Tri-Nations trip to Durban on Saturday.

David Wallace is believed to have regained his fitness ahead of Ireland’s clash with New Zealand in Lansdowne Road tomorrow.

Jeff Wilson and Christian Cullen have been omitted from John Mitchell’s first New Zealand squad.