Australia vs New Zealand

This weekend sees Australia play New Zealand in Rugby League and Rugby Union.  My heart will always say Australia is going to win both games but my head is not so sure.

Why? Well lets start with the game of League.
This will be Lockyers last game on Australian soil.  Australia have a very imposing record over New Zealand and only for the odd game have New Zealand beaten Australia.  I am not totally convinced Australia have picked their best team with what is available but it should still be able to close this game out easily.  Let's break it down firstly with the key positions. 

Five-eighth:  Lockyer vs Marshall. For me Marshall is never going to be a the level of Lockyer, he hides in defence and goes missing too many times in a game and has a high error rate.  The kicking game is an important factor and it is not just about the short kicking game, Lockyer has Marshall covered here.

Halfback: Thurston vs Foran.  Foran has the Premiership ring but Thurston has the big game experience.  Nothing is bigger than Origin and Thurston has shown his credentials at state and national level many a time.  Thurston has the ability to keep the ball on a string and should dominate this battle.

Hooker:  Smith vs Fien  The worlds best hooker against an Aussie that turned his back on his country just to make a rep team, Smith dominates all over here.  Too much experience at the top level here and Smith very rarely has a bad game.

Fullback:  Slater vs Locke.  There is daylight and second here.  Slater is the fullback any team would gladly have.  Locke may be quick and has had a good year but Slater is no slouch either and just seems to be getting better and better.  Look for nerves to hurt Locke, even if Slater makes a couple of mistakes which he is capable of he will still have a big game.

The fowards:  Too many class forwards for Australia.  Big games are won up front and I can't see how New Zealand will put this Australian team on the back foot.  Most of Australia's starting pack are capable of eighty minute games and all of them hit hard. 

I won't put it past the kiwis to try a few cheap shots in early in this game. Australia should win easily here.


Rugby Union Semi-final

I think if Australia can get a ref that actually understands the rules of the game and is consistent then they are capable of beating the All Blacks.  So far in this competition Australia have not hit their straps but are still there.  The kiwis won't have to look back too far to see that they are not as good as they think.  They can make up all the excuses they want but they lost the Tri-Nations and the Crusaders are not the Super Rugby Champions.  And when it comes to World Cups there is one thing New Zealand are good at, failure.  New Zealand are rated every year as being the best team in the world but have not been World Champions since 1987.  Since then they have only made the final once.  This is a very poor record for a team that is so cocky about their ability in Union. 

All the pressure is on New Zealand in this game.  Most have written off Australia and Aussies love being an underdog and don't expect Cooper to have another poor game.  New Zealand on the other hand are playing at home so the support will be all for them.  The media have had New Zealand winning the Cup since day one and most are too scared to say anything negative about the New Zealand team. Hopefully this is a team that just thinks they need to turn up.

They are missing one of there best players in Carter though and McCaw is under an injury cloud.  They have plenty of good players but the pressure of a big game and it could all unravel. If Australia can defend like the did against South Africa but get 50% of the possession they will press New Zealand and should came away victorious.