Touring Australia with the Lions, a tilt at the Commonwealth Games next season, a World Cup in 2015 and a repeat Lions trip to New Zealand in four years time.

Robbie Deans carries the impassive stare of a man who would do well in the Las Vegas casinos.

Subplots regularly threaten to overpower the main act in Australian rugby.

Wallaby legend Mark Ella remains exasperated by the present side.

It seems incredible a team with four straight defeats and a losing record could still sneak into the playoffs, but the Blues are hoping to beat the odds.

The Lions have got more than a test series to win on Saturday night, writes Chris Rattue. They need to discover a spirit for the game and restore some excitement and honour.

Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney has no intention of using Sonny Bill Williams as a five-eighth at this year's World Cup, even though the rugby league world is marvelling at his ability to flourish in the halves.

The remarkable George Smith will start his 111th and final test for the Wallabies in Saturday's series-deciding test against the Lions.

Comparisons were made at the 2011 World Cup but now they seem much more real. Is George North this era's Jonah Lomu?

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".

There are six weeks until the All Blacks play again. Gregor Paul details 10 things coach Steve Hansen would no doubt like to see and not like to see between now and August 17.

A big factor in why the Chiefs looked a vastly improved side in the last 30 minutes of their victory over the Hurricanes in Hamilton can be found in one significant second-half substitution.

These All Blacks can do anything, it seems, except the one thing they really want - which is to back up big performances with equally big performances.

The lingering whiff of the 38-21 loss to England last December still festers among the All Blacks.

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.

These likely lads are no strangers to controversy and, at the very least, should be cashing in some of their chips.

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

Richie McCaw - your country still needs you, writes Chris Rattue. I've long believed that the great one has covered up fairly serious deficiencies in New Zealand rugby and the series against France has done nothing to dispel the theory.

Contentment rather than elation flooded the All Black camp last night. Their ability to emerge triumphant against what they felt was the best French performance of the series was being cherished.

As Steve Hansen picks over the remains of this untidy All Blacks performance, he can at least comfort himself with the fact that he is more aware of several things about his players.

The dominant theme of the June series has been the Smiths - Aaron, Conrad and Ben - a trio whose value to the national game goes way beyond the respectively increasingly important roles they play for the All Blacks.

Asked on the Lions trip to South Africa four years ago what touring qualities galvanised such a group and spurred team unity, Brian O'Driscoll offered a simple explanation.

A handful of rugby players are born into Lionhood and the very best of them, the creme de la creme, grow to their fullest size in the red jersey. Brian O'Driscoll is among that number.

Images from the All Blacks second test against France at Yarrow Stadium, 22 June 2013.

Sporting presence is hard to define. It involves aura, charisma and poise.

For Wyatt Crockett, this week represents a victory, if not a breakthrough.

Within seconds of Lions manager Andy Irvine finishing his first test team announcement, journalists' fingers were hitting laptop keys to file that news.

The result of the Lions series hinges on the outcome of tomorrow's first test in Brisbane. A week ago with the Lions rolling though Australia unbeaten and playing a fantastic brand of rugby, I would have picked them for that first test if not the series.

On the day it was announced that Rene Ranger would start his first test for the All Blacks in three years, the Blues player finally confirmed his move to French club Montpellier.

A series win against the Lions will be a massive fillip for Robbie Deans' coaching longevity with the Wallabies.