Tough talk as giants square up

THE meeting of two nations with a long and mutual loathing of each other gets an absorbing programme of World Cup quarter-finals under way in Melbourne’s Telstra Dome tomorrow.

There will be nothing pretty when New Zealand and South Africa collide at 7.30am Irish time. It will be real He-Man stuff, especially if the Springboks have their way, although it is not in the nature of the All Blacks to shirk a fight, so it should be absolutely fascinating to behold.

The mind games have been going on all week and, true to tell, it isn't always clear as to what exactly these deadly rivals are trying to say.