By Tournament / Tri-Nations

                       If Carlsberg made rugby matches...

Few could argue it wasn't worth the two-week wait but New Zealand's pulsating Tri-Nations clincher over the hard-nosed Wallabies championed enough proof that these experimental laws need no longer obstruct our warm attention from sport's blessed ball game.

Hanging to the edge of the cliff by their fingernails, the All-Blacks managed to hold on as if there dear rugby lives depended on it - remarkably churning out a 21-point spending spree that would've even had Victoria Beckham up on her feet - to retain the silver.

All the big personalities stood up - Richie, Carter, Mils, So'oialo, Williams - especially Graham Henry. As if running through no man's land with nothing but a towel, the All-Black coach has tasted his sweetest triumph with Tri-Nations number four.
 
New Zealanders are used to pretty looking stuff rather than trudging their way through adversity and hard graft but a viscious word at half-time saw the All-Blacks cop a pounding like Amir Khan and sent straight back out to battle.

Ruthless sheer-bloody mindedness and character by the trailor load saw the All-Blacks surge back from a ten-point deficit.

It's scary to think how many players have jumped ship by either following the lure of the cash cow or the pension plan since les world cup miserable.

Piri Weepu, the summer's forgotten man, bounced back to take a tear jerking chunk of the celebratory game pie with his crucial match-winning try.

Richie McCaw proved once again that when it comes to getting the job done at the breakdown there is no one more industrious nor effective.

And when you've got ice-cold calming genius Dan Carter not even shelling a drop of sweat in the most unforgiving circumstances, you're well in control.

But it is hard to glance past Henry and his band of brothers for whom the decision to ditch the nonsensical rotation policy in favour of blooding some breathtaking talents in Richard Kahui and Jerome Kaino, should give him the reigns until the All-Blacks take on the world in their own back yard in 2011.

Good on you Graham...

Every seat taken, every living room filled with scarves, flags and cold one's, every single Australian and Kiwi glued to the Tri-Nations Battle of Brisbane. That's just how big it is.

The Wallabies, who haven't tasted gold since 2001, stand in the way of a fourth straight Tri-Nations trophy for the All-Blacks, not to mention a sixth Bledisloe Cup series on the bounce.

The structure of the competition has been a shambles. The meaningless thumping the Wallabies copped off the Springboks two weeks ago did nothing more than to bruise the Aussie egos. Oh, and give them an extra two weeks to build themselves up into a frenzy that would even put a child on Christmas Eve to shame.

Putting aside every single individual duel like it's Ali vs Foreman, the current two best outside halves in the world have cleaned out their muskets and laced up their boots for we're expecting an almighty kicking shootout behind a bloody breakdown battle.

Who are we trying to kid? It's all about Graham Henry v Robbie Deans.

Deans is bound to have a trick up his sleeve. When it's winner takes all, Dingo Deans is your man.

Even if Australia showed similar form to a baby learning how to swim in Johannesburg, 'Dingo' has a history of pushing all the right buttons at the right times in big games. And Saturday comes as no bigger.

Would the new coach on the block have it any other way? His demeanor hasn't suggested otherwise, carrying as much weight on those confident shoulders as a surfing dude heading to the beach.

Grazer has gone quietly about his business since dropping the "out-coached" bombshell in Sydney that reverberated back in the New Zealand highlands as loud and clear as a screaming Essex girl whose just broken a nail.

He might've lifted rugby spirits back to its normal overbearing expectation levels in the Land of the Long White Cloud but a dreaded loss on Saturday and he's back to square one - with nothing.

What's been an unpredictable tournament, the one consolation is that we've actually got a final showdown. First takes the lot, second has to pull their rock-hard chins off the turf. Game on!

Australia by two before I forget....

Robbie Deans might've put a brave spin on the Springbok mauling suffered in Johannesburg but it must've felt like finding your wife in bed with the next door neighbour.

It's unfamiliar territory for Deans, who can't be used to copping such hidings, especially against kiwis.

Fall guys Timana Tahu and Tatafu Polota-Nau will have to watch from the stands this weekend while Phil Waugh, Matt Dunning and Hugh McMeniman must be content with spots on the bench.

In come Ryan Cross, George Smith, Nathan Sharpe, Al Baxter and Stephen Moore while a five-two split on the bench suggests the Wallabies are expecting a bruising contest.

Not only does Saturday's decider put the TriNations title up for grabs but the Bledisloe Cup is currently tied at 1-1.

Time to kick the neighbour in the nuts...

Australia: 15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Peter Hynes, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 Stirling Mortlock (c), 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Sam Cordingley, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.

Replacements: 16 Adam Freier, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Hugh McMeniman, 19 Phil Waugh, 20 Richard Brown, 21 Brett Sheehan, 22 Drew Mitchell.