Rugby: Smith and Macqueen see a cliffhanger in the making

Saturday's Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup double between the All Blacks and Wallabies in Wellington is shaping up to be one of the most fascinating rugby tests between the transtasman rivals, both coaches agreed yesterday.

The form both teams were taking into the clash added to the excitement of the title and silverware at stake, said All Black coach Wayne Smith and his Wallaby counterpart, Rod Macqueen.

After the thrilling first clash between the two nations, won by the All Blacks, 39-35, in Sydney through a late Jonah Lomu try, both teams' home matches against the Springboks delivered intriguing similarities.

They provided much of the "old" test characteristics - hard, uncompromising forward play and tight defences.

Both teams scored two tries against South Africa and did not allow the opponents to cross their own line.

"It's very seldom you see a team held try-less today in two tests in a row," Smith said yesterday.

"It'll be fascinating to see how it unfolds and whether the pressure of the silverware on top of the test match affects the game.

"We know it's going to be tough.

"Whichever team win, they will know they've been in a game."

Macqueen said the recent form of the transtasman rivals would guarantee a close match.

"I didn't think there was much between us in the first match and both our games against South Africa didn't reveal too much more," he said.

"I think from a spectators' point of view Wellington will provide a pretty hot lead-up."

Meanwhile, star back Matt Burke has spared the selectors a potential headache. He was sent home yesterday from the Wallaby training base in Coffs Harbour for further treatment on the troublesome ankle which has kept him out of test rugby this season.

Burke's ankle flared again after he played for the ACT President's XV last week, saving the selectors the temptation of rushing him back for Saturday's test.

The selectors will today name an unchanged starting team, leaving powerhouse winger Ben Tune on the bench in favour of incumbent wingers Stirling Mortlock and Joe Roff.

Tune had been tipped to win back his starting role for another duel with Lomu.

Mortlock answered the challenges with a perfect six goals from six attempts and a try in a man-of-the-match performance against the Springboks.

"Stirling couldn't have done any better," Macqueen said.

Eight of the All Blacks played club rugby on Saturday - Craig Dowd, Alama Ieremia, Scott Robertson, Reuben Thorne, Greg Somerville, Leon MacDonald, Byron Kelleher and Tony Brown.

The only change expected in the test team is the return of Ieremia at centre, in place of Mark Robinson.

However, Smith and his assistant coach, Tony Gilbert, gave nothing away at the squad's training session in Palmerston North, rotating combinations in their scrums constantly.

Robinson, plagued by a knee problem since the selection of the squad, missed yesterday's training session after the knee swelled and required fluid drainage.

Josh Kronfeld also had a leg injury and skipped the session, but Smith said both players would be available for selection when he named his team tomorrow night.

First five-eighths Brown pulled out of the session in the last 10 minutes after spraining a toe, but team doctor John Mayhew said it would not stop the Otago pivot from playing if he was selected.

Meanwhile, Earle Kirton, a selector and assistant coach with Laurie Mains in the early 1990s, has returned to the All Blacks' fold.

"I'm the fourth All Black selector," Kirton, a Wellington dentist, said yesterday.

"I've been co-opted on to the panel as the fourth selector with special responsibility for the second and third division."

With fellow All Black selector Peter Thorburn, Kirton will help to pick the divisional team who will probably play some Pacific Rim teams early next year as warm-up matches for that tournament.

All Blacks test programme 2000



- NZPA