Latest fromAustralia Rugby Team

Rugby: Final a chance to assess Wallaby candidates
All rugby eyes are on Hamilton tonight as a tasty decider and teaser towards the resumption of transtasman sporting combat.

Rugby: Playmakers big part of McKenzie's squad
New Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie has recalled controversial five-eighth Quade Cooper and revealed he is looking at incumbent pivot James O'Connor primarily as an outside back.

Wynne Gray: Test heat looms for Cooper
QC is back, not the Queens Counsel or anything else the tiresome Crusader crowds would call Quade Cooper.

Rot at the heart led to Deans' demise
Did Deans get it wrong in rugby terms, or was there more to it than mere footballing matters?

Wynne Gray: Deans stayed stoic in final days as Aussie coach
While his Wallaby side went through their usual parabolic form graph, Deans ploughed on. He had a job to do, writes Wynne Gray.

Gregor Paul: Where now for Deans? Not here
A return to New Zealand just doesn't feel like it would be the right for Robbie Deans or the right thing for New Zealand rugby, writes Gregor Paul.

Rugby: Secret talks to replace Deans
Coaching change is coming for the Wallabies - maybe even as early as this week - as it's believed the Australian Rugby Union have already interviewed Jake White and Ewen McKenzie about taking over from Robbie Deans.

Paul Lewis: IRB's archaic laws need an overhaul
Sorry, but the tale of the drunken ducks is far more credible than the contention that Horwill did not stomp on Jones, writes Paul Lewis.

Rugby: Lions dazzle in finale
The Lions thrashed the Wallabies 41-16 in a thrilling international test decider in Sydney last night.

Wynne Gray: Coach drama overshadows series decider
Subplots regularly threaten to overpower the main act in Australian rugby.

Rugby: Mark Ella finds Wallabies' lack of progress frustrating
Wallaby legend Mark Ella remains exasperated by the present side.

Rugby: Aussies to unleash evergreen Smith on Lions
The remarkable George Smith will start his 111th and final test for the Wallabies in Saturday's series-deciding test against the Lions.

Lions captain ruled out for third test
British and Irish Lions captain Sam Warburton has been ruled out of the third and deciding test against the Wallabies in Sydney.

Rugby: Lions miss their best chance to get redress
Brian O'Driscoll's words seemed to haunt the ground and die in the throats of the Lions' supporters.

Wallabies level thrilling series
The Wallabies scored the only try of a belting second test with the Lions as the tourists watched their chance of cracking 16 years of touring torture disappear last night in Melbourne.

Rugby: Tour chance to check strength of red rose
The lingering whiff of the 38-21 loss to England last December still festers among the All Blacks.

Rugby: Team in awe after Folau shows off skills
Not for the first time Folau was attempting to prove to new team-mates at a pre-season training session that he had the skills to play their code of "footie".

Rugby: Melbourne love Lions, but they'd go to World Tiddlywinks
Many Australians trace the nation's obsessive interest in sport to the Melbourne Olympics in 1956 when the arrival of broadcast television coincided with the festival.

Wynne Gray: Wallabies' burger boys should cash in some of their chips
These likely lads are no strangers to controversy and, at the very least, should be cashing in some of their chips.

Wynne Gray: George Smith omission a mistake
George Smith isn't in the Wallabies for the second test with the Lions, and that's a big mistake, writes Wynne Gray.

Rugby: Lions pour vitriol on Pollock after close shave
The British and Irish Lions chose to target the referee rather than improvement before next week's pivotal second test against the Wallabies.

Rugby: Walking Wallabies wanted
It's Pin the Jersey on the Wallaby - or backline bingo - as they search for some fit players, fortune and a result to keep the Lions series alive.