All Blacks Reign Supreme

..say no more

The year is young, the opposition chomping at the bit, uneasy rests the head that rests the crown...

 Yeah much like the WC final where the better side lost!!!!

The AB's without Carter are a hapless lot

The team in the best position is probably Australia. If NZ is a flyhalf away from being ordinary....Australia is a tighthead away from being great.

Yes they do - with regard to having refs in their pockets.

With our new coach and Rassie bring some real brain power to the party, with a great blend of youth and experience the Boks should have a good year and a better one next year - its all heading north while the Abs head south.

Book your appointment with your therapists early all you kiwis. Prepare for the inevitable!!

 Oz also need to find some centres with clout

This board is on fire!!!  I luv it!

BL you're a heaven sent...keep em coming!

I disagree with that. Australia's woes go far beyond a tighthead. Their entire backline lacks penetration and that is the key to playing classic Australian rugby. There is no Horan, Herbert or Campese to burst through tackles, keep the ball alive to back up a multi-phase game. Furthermore they do not possess the tactical kicking power to match several other countries. Their lineout is merely okay on it's day and scrum questionnable. When minus a biased ref Pocock becomes very ordinary. In fact, their loose trio is not quite so fearsome. Who is their best 10? It looks like they'll retain the highly suspect Blooper ahead fof the logical Barnes. No centres to speak of either. Australia were taken to task many times over the last two years. The blueprint for those victories has remained constant. Deny them space, put them in the wrong areas of the field, press their backs and smash them backwards and they fall apart. The Boks reverted to this in the World Cup and those Aussies were utterly stuffed. The stats are very embarrassing.

By far the best placed side is South Africa. Unlike both New Zealand and Australia we actually have options at lock and in the front row. Our loosie depth is beyond compare. We have the best half backs in the business and can put together several combinations of frightfully quick and lethal back threes. The only thing we lacked over the past four years has finally been solved.

Aristo you're a giggle a minute. This "tawdry" OZ team beat us 3 times this year and five times in the last six matches. Catch a wake up.

Oz backs are very good. Beale, O'Connor, Digby, half backs etc. Their trouble is that their pack is still a little soft. Not much but still needs more clout. Oz are a young side and their performance graph has to be upwards.

Nz are frot and are going down. SA are going to the top. That about sums it up.

All we need is fair refs - how can that be accomplished? These downunder oaks are truly bent!

Genia is eaily negated by a solid defence and physically. Cooper is highly erratic and utterly flawed. He too is stuffed by physicality. Digby is merely a track runner. Deny him the open lane and he is completely anonymous. O'Connor is a very good player, nothing special though. Beale is their only back worth his weight in a real test. You can continue to bury your head in the sand but I am very much ahead of the curve on this one.

I'll say it again, Cooper is a loose cannon, fine against weak opposition but will never cut it in big matches where defences are rock solid. He makes for great entertainment at S15 level but he'll never win Oz a WC. Under pressure at the WC, Deans had backed himself into a corner by sticking with him.I hope they stick with him instead of O'Conner or Barnes, it makes our job so much easier.