By Country / New Zealand

It was almost too good to be true, but Graham Henry couldn’t resist following his horrible tendencies and chucking in a player out of position.

Disregarded Chiefs centre Richard Kahui has been chosen to replace Leon MacDonald in the All-Blacks XV to face the Wallabies in Auckland.

Australian coach, Robbie Deans was stunned by the decision to pit Kahui up against Lote Tuqiri on the right flank.

“I’m not privy to the detail in terms of who’s available and who’s not and all of those permutations.”

We’ll give you a hand Dingo.

Rudi Wulf and Anthony Tuitavake must be wondering what they’ve done wrong. They’ve been solid if unspectacular, but only Dan Carter has hit the standards.

There are others too, including 2008 Super 14 top try scorer Lelia Masaga or Crusaders wing cum full-back Scott Hamilton - a like for like replacement for MacDonald - but neither gets a look in.

New Zealand fans have been willing to give the All-Blacks coaching regime another go, but conceding Kahui will be “fine” on the wing doesn’t fill you with too much confidence.

No one doubts his talent. He’s had a successful full season at centre and now has only two days to turn himself into a world class wing - against one of the most lethal in the business.

Wings are wings, centres are centres, fly-halves are fly-halves - full stop Graham.

Could Wayne Smith’s pathetic admission of being “out-coached” and “outwitted” by Robbie Deans be another underhand tactic to paint over the increasingly large cracks opening under the current All-Black coaching setup?

Graham Henry et al are under considerable pressure for New Zealand’s poor start to the Tri-Nations and have been guilty of some pretty filthy wind-ups thus far - all of which have backfired.

But is the heat finally getting too much for Henry?

His half-hearted appraisal of the Experimental Law Variations and their current share on rugby’s stock market reeks of desperation.

Letting your guard down is unwise in any sport and openly admitting that Deans’ advantage of a season under the new laws puts everyone else at a disadvantage must sit like a bad curry with the New Zealand public, who treat rugby like religion.

Everyone knows neither of the All-Blacks coaches have experimented with the ELVs, but why couldn’t Henry, Smith or Steve Hansen have spent a season with the Blues and gathered a wealth of practical information and bounced ideas off Pat Lam?

What have the coaching panel been doing all this time?

Henry has always been an excuse merchant, even when marshalling the Welsh and British & Irish Lions, whereas Hansen, 'Mr. Future Plan,' doesn't move easily.

The white-flag attitude of the coaching panel serves only to increase the Wallabies confidence (as if they needed ego massaging), but all this petit excuse making may well be honest, but would Ricky Ponting go around saying, ‘geez, Andrew Flintoff’s got my number here?’

Of course not, win the mental battle and you're half way to victory.

Could you imagine Dan Carter turning out for the Force, Yannick Jauzion playing for the Brumbies, or even Shane Williams sprinting down the Waratahs wing?

The Australian Rugby Union has reportedly thrown open its doors to foreign stars as they aim to combat the mass exodus of home grown talent.

It spells the end to the strict policy, which only allows eligible Wallabies to play for the four Super 14 provinces.

It’s the latest sign yet that globalisation is stretching further afar in the club arena - the IRB should take note - leaning perilously towards a world transfer market and quite feasibly a world club competition a la champions league - Dubai anyone?

The New Zealand and South African Hierarchies have already knocked down its walls, allowing players to take sabbaticals in the northern hemisphere, before returning for the international season.

Sydney was a bit of a wake up call for 'our Graham.' The All-Blacks blessed with star individuals found life difficult gelling against a unified, complete Wallabies team.

For the Auckland return leg, Henry has been boosted by the return of Richie McCaw, although the jury's still out on whether he is actually fit enough - 60 minutes will do at this stage.

The Wallabies were savages around the breakdown, tearing each All-Black limb from limb, so the presence of McCaw - 100% of not - will repair some of the mental scars left by George Smith & Co.

All three scrum-halves are bracketed with Piri Weepu and one from Andy Ellis or Jimmy Cowan likely to get the nod.

Sione Lauaki will be lucky to ever play again - the U8s are practicing handling on Sunday morning - so Daniel Braid and Adam Thomson will battle it out for the bench spot.

It's about time, but New Zealand's selectors are finally playing their best players in their best positions.

Mils Muliana returns to the wing, Leon MacDonald is still their best full-back and Conrad Smith brings that 'Aaron Mauger/Frank Bunce' level-headedness to the centre partnership, where he will bring out the best in Ma'a Nonu.

Rodney So'oialo can stick to what he's good at off the base of the scrum, Jerome Kaino is an out and out blind-side - the experiments have stopped.

New Zealand: 15 Leon MacDonald, 14 Mils Muliana, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan/Andy Ellis/Piri Weepu; 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino (c), 5 Ali Williams, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Andrew Hore/ Keven Mealamu, 1 Tony Woodcock.

Reserves: 16 Hore/Mealamu, 17 John Afoa, 18 Anthony Boric, 19 Adam Thomson/Daniel Braid, 20 Jimmy Cowan, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Richard Kahui.

What's going on in rugby league? Granted it must be pretty difficult hearing average players signing six-figure contracts in France with only a smattering of union experience in the back garden, but for Sonny Bill Williams to turn his back on the sport in his prime - could it be that rugby league is merely a supermarket for the richer union of rugby.

Williams -  New Zealand rugby league's version of Dan Carter - has sensationally walked out on the Canterbury Bulldogs to join the high-rollers at Toulon under the watchful eye of Tana Umaga.

He was only a year into a five-year-deal and was obviously unhappy, but is an argument with the girlfriend over who's cooking tea reason enough to set sail for the French Mediterranean and continue his fishbowl lifestyle surrounding by croissants, yachts and euromillionaires - it's not that tough being a chisled 22-year-old is it?

Not bothering to tell his teammates, clubmen or fans - it's a desperate loss for rugby league in general.

It sounds like someone on the run for murder rather than a lover's tiff. 24 hours before a massive clash and Williams is nowhere to be seen.

Over two years in Toulon, Williams will flush a whopping £1.45m into his bank-account.

NRL chief, David Gallop was left fuming and rightly so. Understandably disappointed that rugby is following in football's footsteps where contracts aren't worth the paper they're written on, Gallop said: "If he's not playing football with the Bulldogs, he won't be playing football, full stop. "

As if the IRB didn't have enough on their plate...