Clive Woodward has made quite a few changes for the English side to take on the Kiwis this weekend in Auckland. In the backs he's put Tom Voyce on the wing for James Simpson-Daniel, Andy Gomarsall in to scrum half for Matt Dawson, and in the centres Mike Catt is replaced by Stuart Abbott. In the forwards Regan comes in as hooker, Borthwick for Danny Grewcock, and Worsley takes over as flanker. Guess we'll see how those changes pan out!

Meanwhile, Henry has had to make some changes to the All Blacks as well. Dougie Howlett is injured so Nick Evans has been brought in as a replacement. Mils Muliaina will take Howlett's place on the wing, while Evans slots into the #15 Fullback jersey for the Kiwis. Ritchie McCaw and Marty Holah are also under an injury cloud at the present - here's hoping they're fine by Saturday!!

And, in a bit of sad news for 'the game' - in Auckland a 14 year old player has been banned for at least 5 years after he struck the referee during a game. Apparently the boy struck the referee when the ref was having a go at him about swearing. Ugly situation, and one of those 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' ones... you could assume that the boy would benefit from the self and team discipline that rugby will instill, and yet, no one (least of all refs) should have to put up with that sort of behaviour either. No winners :/

No news as yet on how the Australian U21s went against Tonga in the World Cup...

Scotland's lock Stuart Grimes has copped a two match suspension after he trampled Wallaby number 8 David Lyons in the last minute of the test on Saturday. The Scottish captain - lock Scott Murray is also in doubt after he sustained a hip injury from a collision with Lyons in the same match. Ouch! I hope the Scots have a couple of locks lying around the place that they can use for the next match!

Great news for the Wallabies - Stirling Mortlock is baaaaaaack! Yes, he's over his knee injury and will take the field on Saturday. Yay!

That's it for a bit - cheers!

Oh well, we're happy campers here in Oz today as well after the Wallabies got up over the Scots 35 - 15 in Melbourne last night. The win was hardly convincing though, there's a lot of cobwebs to be blown out of the Australian side. What was the go with the kicking game? hmmmm... no point kicking if you're just going to kick it straight to your opposition is there? Oh well - something to work on no doubt. Lote Tuqiri scored a couple of tries, Wendell got one as well, and Matt Giteau scored the first try of the match! The Scots didn't get over the line, their 15 points coming from the boot of ex-Sydney sider Dan Parks with 5 penalty goals.

As an aside - the English belting by NZ was the largest loss ever by a team carrying the world No. 1 ranking. Muaaaahahahhahhahhahahahahaa!!!

:)

Laterz!

Well, the Kiwis have got to be a happy bunch today after flogging the poms 36-3 last night. What a fine sight it was! Carlos Spencer, Joe Rokocoko, and Dougie Howlett all scored a try a piece, and Daniel Carter was a busy boy kicking 5 penalties and three conversions. The poms didn't go over for any tries (yawn - did somebody mention 'boring' rugby) and they just scored the 3 point penalty kick.

I ended up watching the game down at the local rugby club. I had to admire the four English fans who strolled in to watch the big screen resplendant and very smug in their pommy gear. Pretty brave - or pretty stupid, just depends on how you view these things. Anyway, sadly they lacked senses of humour. Somebody *who shall remain nameless..heh might have been tossing peanuts at them when the English got up 3-0. That sent them into a big spin - I'll spare you the gory details, but sheesh what a sooky mob! Maybe they didn't realise that the Aussies would be backing the Kiwis in the game? I dunno!

Congratulations meanwhile to the Australian Under 21 rugby world championship team who got up by one point over France 25-24. Their next encounter is against Tonga in Edinburgh on Tuesday and then they go on to play Argentina. Good luck boysa!

Meanwhile, over in South Africa, the Springboks 31 defeated Ireland 17, and the Pumas 50 got up over Wales 44 in Argentina.

This arvo it's the Wallabies playing Scotland - go Aussies!!!

Cheers!