Tri-Nations a close contest
Sydney - This year's expanded Tri-Nations promises to be one of the most competitive so far in the short history of the annual championship, with Australia and South Africa quickly gaining ground on New Zealand.
The mighty All Blacks crushed everyone in their path last season and are favourites to retain the title in 2006 when the teams will meet three times each instead of twice.
This year, however, everything points to a much closer contest.
The Wallabies, who were in complete disarray at the end of 2005, have rebounded spectacularly under new coach John Connolly, demolishing England in back-to-back Tests then comfortably beating Ireland.
The Springboks, the only team in the world to beat New Zealand last year, have also shown some encouraging form, defeating Scotland twice before only narrowly losing to Six Nations champions France despite fielding a below-strength team.
Injury woes
The All Blacks enjoyed one of their finest seasons in 2005 when they hammered the British and Irish Lions 3-0, won the Tri-Nations for the sixth time in a decade, then completed the 'Grand Slam' on their end-of-season tour to the northern hemisphere.
Tana Umaga retired and has been replaced as captain by Richie McCaw and while New Zealand's early season results were modest by their lofty standards, they also underlined the enormous depth in the squad with Henry fielding different teams for each match.
All three teams will experiment with their line-ups this season as part of their preparations for next year's World Cup in France but all know winning the Tri-Nations would strike an early psychological blow.
The Springboks have been plagued by injuries in the lead up to this year's series, including a potentially career-ending neck injury to their outstanding flanker Schalk Burger.
Reports also link coach Jake White with a move to England.
White was cleared to remain with the team after pledging his allegiance to the national cause and while most teams would crumble if confronted with the problems currently facing the South Africans, the Springboks are invariably at their best in times of crisis.
Schedule:
July 8 - New Zealand v Australia, Christchurch
July 15 - Australia v South Africa, Brisbane
July 22 - New Zealand v South Africa, Wellington
July 29 - Australia v New Zealand, Brisbane
August 5 - Australia v South Africa, Sydney
August 19 - New Zealand v Australia, Auckland
August 26 - South Africa v New Zealand, Pretoria
September 2 - South Africa v New Zealand, Rustenburg
September 9 - South Africa v Australia, Johannesburg
Past winners:
1996 - New Zealand
1997 - New Zealand
1998 - South Africa
1999 - New Zealand
2000 - Australia
2001 - Australia
2002 - New Zealand
2003 - New Zealand
2004 - South Africa
2005 - New Zealand
News source: www.news24.co.za
Posted by: www.SouthAfrica-CarHire.com
