Hansie's wrap for the Super 12 final is up! Have a read of Hansie's theory called the 'English Bubble'.... it's to do with the Rugby World Cup and the cyclical nature of team achievement and player selections. Sure I agree with his theory - look at the young team France trotted out for the play off final against NZ for RWC 2003, and the Scottish team were very young in comparison to other teams.

We have some good rugby between now and RWC 2007 though :) Let's take a look at what's coming up for Wallaby fans:-

June 11 - Australia vs Samoa - Telstra Stadium Sydney
June 25 - Australia vs Italy - Telstra Dome Melbourne
July 2 - Australia vs France - Suncorp Stadium Brisbane
July 9 - Australia vs South Africa - Telstra Stadium Sydney
August 13 - Australia vs New Zealand - Telstra Stadium Sydney
August 20 - Australia vs South Africa - Subiaco Oval Perth

If you want to buy tickets to any of those games, Sydney and Brisbane games can be purchased through ticketek, while Melbourne and Perth games can be bought from Ticketmaster7. I see that the ARU is still doing this 'Family ticket' being 2 adults and 2 children... I DO wish they would let people with more than 2 children sit together!

More news on other upcoming games coming tomorrow....

More rugby news:

Matt Henjak has joined the Western Force on on a three-year contract - wonder how Gregan's understudy will go for test selection?

Here's a pic of the trophy that the All Blacks and Lions will be playing for in the upcoming series - nice looking piece of crystal :)

And for those who care, here's the official website of the British and Irish Lions... Did you know ? The Lions have not beaten the All Blacks in a series since 1971!!

Later!

Okay - here were the rules....

Should you be sitting at the #1 position at the END of the comp - the whole Super 12 2005 comp then you will be the winner.

The winner wins the prize as indicated over there on your right. You'll have to spring for your own transport/transfer costs I'm afraid, unless of course someone from an airline lands across this site and offers to sponsor/provide flight tickets.

The decision about who wins, prizes awarded etc remains with me.

So with no further ado..... well just a little bit... :) The WINNER of Cup-rugby.com's Tipping comp for 2005 is.... DRUMROLL>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Jarrett McGregor - on 55 points. Username Jazzamamoomoo. Jarrett lives in Christchurch, and not surprisingly he supports the Crusaders.

Congratulations Jarrett! I'll drop you an email and we'll go from there!

Stay tuned... there'll be more words of drivel waxed lyrically by myself and Hansie - tri nations, tests, etc etc.. Did you see that the Barbarians beat the Poms? Yeah!

The history chapter on Super 12 rugby is now complete with the Crusaders 35 triumphant over the Waratahs 25 in Christchurch on Saturday night. I didn't even get my tip in - I was busy celebrating a very long awaited win for a team of U12s. Not even the Tahs loss could dampen my delight :)

Peter Hewat drew first blood for the Waratahs by slotting a penalty goal, which Carter soon replied to successfully. Hewat put on another penalty goal, but Scott Hamilton soon scored for the Crusaders and it was 11-6 to the home side. Aaron Mauger added a further 3 points for the Canterbury lads before half time with a field goal. Smarty pants :)

After the half time break the game was dominated by the Crusaders with tries from Dave Hewett, Leon McDonald and a length of the field run from Caleb Ralph. All over Red Rover!

But, I take my hat off to the Tahs, they could have just let it get worse from there, but they put up a good fight and managed to get Phil Waugh over the tryline for their first try - with only 12 minutes left on the clock. Matty Rogers went over for two more Waratah tries, but it was all too late.... the Crusaders becoming champions for the fifth time.

The Aftermath:
Lote Tuquiri has been cited for a shoulder charge on Scott Hamilton in the first half - good luck!
Daniel Vickerman is off for shoulder surgery and is expected to be off for a month meaning that he is probably going to be unavailable for the first two tests games this year.

The Waratahs farewell: Nathan Grey, Brendan Cannon, Justin Harrison, Lachlan MacKay and Gareth Hardy.

The Crusaders farewell: Justin Marshall, Dave Hewett and Norm Maxwell.

Right - I'd better have a look at this tipping comp....