England and World Cup overshadow Tri-Nations

2.00pm

SYDNEY - A team not even competing will overshadow the annual Tri-Nations rugby competition which kicks off this weekend.

The southern hemisphere's annual championship is normally the highlight of the international rugby calendar. But the World Cup and the current form of Six Nations champions England have reduced this year's tournament to the status of a warm-up event.

The three teams, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, have made no secret that they are all looking beyond the Tri-nations to the World Cup, starting on October 10.

While they remain the only countries to have won the World Cup, the Tri-Nations will be as much about finding a way to beat England as it will be about beating each other.

"There's a fairly common theme running through all the countries who are striving to be World Cup contenders at the moment," said Australia coach Eddie Jones.

"I think everyone would love to be at their best (for the Tri-Nations) but we're preparing for something else further down the track when you really do want to be at your best."

New Zealand and South Africa have adopted the same dogged approach and plan to use the home-and-away series to experiment with new players and tactics.

New Zealand, Tri-Nations champions in 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2002, are the favourites to win again this year with Australia their biggest danger. South Africa are given little real hope of winning after an indifferent run of form over the past year.

The All Blacks beat Wales (55-3) and France (31-23) after opening their season with a narrow loss to England (15-13) that has raised fears down under that the World Cup could be won by a northern hemisphere team for the first time.

With time quickly running out, former captains Taine Randell and Anton Oliver and proven match winners Andrew Mehrtens and Christian Cullen all missed selection for the Tri-Nations as New Zealand coach John Mitchell wielded the axe.

"We just need to tidy a few things up," Mitchell explained.

The All Blacks have a powerful lineup with pace to burn in their forwards and backs but their set piece tactics were inadequate against the English and the French.

The Europeans also exposed problems in the Wallabies pack, forcing Jones to re-think his team's strategies.

"There's no doubt the southern hemisphere teams got a little bit of a lesson from the northern hemisphere sides, particularly in terms of the lineout," Jones said.

"We've got to build on those and look at how we can improve on those set piece tactics."

The Springboks won the Tri-Nations for the only time in 1998 but have finished last each of the past four seasons and will struggle to improve on that if their early season form is anything to go by.

They laboured to beat Scotland (29-25) and (28-19) in a two-match series then needed a last-match penalty to see off Argentina (26-25) in their most recent outing.

Like Jones and Mitchell, South Africa coach Rudolf Straeuli has been experimenting with his lineups but wants to start finalising his team during the Tri-nations.

"I am happy with the sifting that has gone on and now look forward to the challenge of Australia and New Zealand," he said.

The series begins this Saturday (early Sunday, NZT) when South Africa host the Wallabies in Cape Town and ends on August 16 when New Zealand play Australia in Auckland.

Tri-Nations winners 1996-2002:

1996 - New Zealand

1997 - New Zealand

1998 - South Africa

1999 - New Zealand

2000 - Australia

2001 - Australia

2002 - New Zealand

- REUTERS