Discuss Rugby in here.

Upcoming Rugby League 4 nations may be closer than previously thought. England and New Zealand will put up some challenge to the Kangaroo's, It would not surprise me if the Kiwi's take it out.

John, I don't follow international league too much. Will France be competitive or are they certainties to lose every game they play?

Australia should beat NZ...on paper our team is a lot better than theirs IMO...though obviously things don't always work out the way they look on paper. Seriously though, how many of their guys would make our starting line up? 2 or 3 maybe?

Unfortunately the opposite is true in union. Will be interesting to see how Sonny Bill Williams goes with the All Blacks in the end of year tour. It will be a good challenge to try and push Nonu out of the starting side by the time of the world cup. I've seen a couple of his games for Canterbury in the ITM Cup and he's looked very dangerous. Same as when he played league, his supreme offloading sets him apart. Also seems to have developed a reasonable long passing game. A few defensive issues maybe, but nothing that can't be ironed out pretty quickly.

Mint, Papua New Guinea is the 4th side, who don't have much hope, Kangaroo's have some players unavailable and the Kiwis have a fair squad, they have some of the form forwards in their pack, and if guys like Lance Hohaia, and Benji Marshall click, and Issac Luke around the ruck makes inroads they could make life difficult for the Kangaroo's.
England have a reasonable forward pack as well, with Sam Burgess and Gareth Ellis the two best back rowers in the world IMO, whether they have the strike power out wide remains to be seen.
As far as Williams goes for the all blacks i don't really care, i think most people are over him, i hope he gets hammered to be honest.

You're a true leaguie John! Or a Bulldogs supporter? Fair enough either way, what he did was a complete dog act.

Still, he remains the most talented league backrower I've ever seen (not saying he's the greatest or anything as he didn't play long enough, just the most talented), and is looking like becoming a force at inside centre in union as well. But yes, I would love to see him get smashed, preferrably by us in a world cup final next year on our way to victory. After the world cup I'd say there's a good chance he'll be back in league. He'd get huge money and I reckon he's the sort of guy that doesn't like being hated by so many people and will want to change peoples minds. That or he'll become a professional boxer under the tutelage of Mundine.

I'm surprised that the 4th team is PNG. Though I didn't realise the tournament was being played here as they usually have these end of year events in the UK. Maybe PNG will give the poms and kiwis a bit of a fight if they get to play either of them on a hot night in Brisbane.

Benji Marshall is all class. I wonder if he was Australian whether he'd be picked over Lockyer. I would do so, but for some reason I reckon the Australian selectors would play him off the bench. I still think Australia have to be a little off their game to lose to the kiwis. But as you say, they can definitely cause us big problems and have a lot of flair with Benji running the show.

No mate, im not a bulldog supporter, im a rabbitoh and to be honest i have taken some notice of him playing Rugby and will watch him if hes playing for the all blacks to see how he goes, i am filthy about what he did but its history now.
When he played league he was a great talent and it was a shame that greed and ego got the better of him, he could have gone about it better.
btw what do you think about Australian Rugby at the moment?

I think Australian rugby has probably just got over a massive low. 2007-9 were terrible years for rugby in Australia - both in terms of on field performance and for the game in general in the sporting marketplace. The rules favoured the defensive teams too much and so the game itself turned into a game of midfield bombs and 100 kicks.

As a result, the popularity has definitely decreased in Australia, and in the same period league and AFL have gone from strength to strength. Soccer has probably overtaken rugby as well. I think things have started to turn around this year though, mainly because of a slight change in ruck interpretation which now favours the attacking side, meaning teams are keeping the ball in hand again (without taking away the contest for possession - good players can still win turnovers). The Queensland Reds in particular have rejuvenated the game in Australia.

It hasn't brought Australian rugby back to it's glory days of the early/mid 2000's, but it's arrested the slide, and now with a world cup in 2011, the Melbourne rebels starting up and a new conference super 15 system which increases the amount of games between Aussie teams, I think the sport will probably have a good next couple of years. Will take a long time (if it ever happens) to get back to the level of support of 2001-2004 though I think.

The Wallabies have some really good young talent now...guys like James O'Connor, Kurtley Beale, Quade Cooper (if he stays in the game), Will Genia, David Pocock and co are a nucleus of a very good side. 2011 might come too early but I could see us getting back to the kind of success we had in the early 2000's with these guys.

Hey mint what a fantastic win by the Wallabies in Hong Kong against the All blacks, We played so well and should have lead easier at some stages, but the All Blacks never give up and scramble in defence so well, it was frustrating at times. It was a good game i really enjoyed it. Beale was great so was Cooper, Elsom Mitchell. That game will instill some confidence in the side, something to build on. Good stuff! i was praying the conversion after the bell went over, so many penalties were missed.

Yeah it was a great win! Just shows how hard it is to beat the All Blacks. Our backline has a lot of talent and should go from strength to strength on this tour...guys like Cooper, O'Connor and Beale are very skillful and link up so well together. I'd probably drop Giteau though to be honest. And our back row was very impressive too. Elsom played well as you said and Pocock was immense...like usual.

NZ probably don't mind losing a match though to be honest. If they went through the whole year undefeated the pressure on them come the world cup next year would be even greater.

Looking forward to the Australia/NZ league test next week as well. Seems England are a little off the pace but NZ have been playing well. Hopefully we get an exciting game with a similar ending as the union test!!

Interested to see how Carney goes in his debut tonight and dean young, both deserve their chance, also good to see Boyd at Fullback too. I know its they are in becdause its a dead rubber but it will certainly show kangaroos depth. Kiwis may push them tonight, but its the final that im looking forward to, the kiwi's are a chance if they play to their potential.

Another good win for the Wallabies against Wales, puts them back on track and will add more confidence.

Wallabies got destroyed in the scrum, which is a big worry going into the England match who have arguably the best front row in the world. I thought they played quite well against NZ overall as well and maybe even should have won - they just couldn't finish their opportunities and didn't quite have the killer instinct that NZ has.

As worrying as our scrum is our backline is dynamite. Beale has become the player everyone always thought he'd be and is just carving up from fullback. I think it's hard to pick a winner for Australia vs England next week. Wet conditions would make it hard for us.

I saw a bit of the league test as well and thought Australia looked pretty good. NZ are definitely good enough to win a game against us though, and lately that game has been the one that matters. Hopefully not this time! I always love watching Benji Marshall play though...I hope we win the final but that Marshall has a good game at the same time.

bloody souths, first dave taylor now gi. if they can't make the finals with that squad they should be booted out of the comp again. mind, i wouldn't put it past them with those halves. give reynolds a shot.

is anyone else completely bemused by parramatta's recruitment? got rid off mateo and inu, granted inu was a flash in the pan but mateo was quality. in return secure the services of the most feared triumvirate in league, fat carl webb, chris cripple walker and drug cheat mateo.

Please, dont go on about South's taking players from other clubs, and Broncos for years you had a whole state and virtually no salary cap lol, and Souths have been ransacked for the last 40 years. GI obviously didn't want to play with Broncos at the end of the day, and Souths have strong indigenous ties and Beau Champion and Malcolm Webster are his cousins so it is a logical place to come, plus he IS an new south Welshman.
As far as Taylor goes souths signed him when broncos dropped him to QLD cup and didn't want him, Souths just knew he had the potential and got him when no one else wanted him. Souths will have a good squad next season, and given injuries and referees not them ripping them off eg last season they will make top 4. If Sutton and sandow fire well,they are a shoe in. I do agree that Reynolds should get a shot if Sandow doesn't perform consistently.

Para need halves badly, why the hell they let Keating go i dont know, and buying Webb and Walker well...

I hope Souths can do something interesting next season. They've easily been the worst team of the past 10 years, really not offering any sort of title push once.

Another year without a top 8 finish for Parra, I'd imagine. Last season was the most disappointed I think I've ever been of them. my father and I got a Parra membership this year so we went to all the home games. They played a really nice game against Melbourne, which was one of the best live matches I've ever seen. 2009 would've been a much greater year to be a member, though. We've renewed our membership so hopefully they surprise us. It's gonna be difficult supporting Carl Webb .