Dan Carter=Champion

Daniel Carter: World's Best Player.

Seriously.

I know it is easy to name a fly-half as the world's best simply due to the heavy influence they have on the game, but Carter really is the world's best. His first game back from injury and from France showed he hadn't been softened up by the French. His final penalty that gave the All Blacks the win was very well taken and he looked as cool as ever.

It is sad to see Australia lose all of their games so far this Tri-Nations campaign. Australia looked fantasic during the internationals of June, much better than New Zealand looked. But, once again, they cannot hang onto a lead. They started strong against the All Blacks twice so far and also against the Springboks, but have nothing in the win column to show for it.

Now, will South Africa be able to play as well away from home as they did with the advantage? My answer: yes. They might not go undefeated, but they will win the Tri-Nations. Australia's mountain is too much for them to climb and New Zealand would have to hope for a few bonus point victories coupled with an Aussie turnaround or Springbok crash.

In other news, it is fantastic to see Jonny Wilkinson back to his old self in France! Most people love Jonny, although Conner does not like him because everything is always "Jonny this and Jonny that," and he has a point, but he can rival Carter for the title of best player. He has one of the best boots in world rugby and is the toughest fly-half of them all when it comes to tackle time.

As for this weekend's upcoming game, with hosts Australia and visitors South Africa, there is no choice but to hand South Africa another victory. Australia is looking at injuries to Barnes and Sharpe, two of their top players, in addition to Mortlock, who is already gone. Now lets see if Habana can stretch his legs for the first time this year!

One note on Tom Williams' suspension: good job getting it reduced. Fake blood is a serious offense but a full year is ridiculous, especially since he was placed in the position to fake the injury, and did not do it on his own. The Harlequins' staff created that idea, and have been justly punished.

~Tyler

Uni-Nation

It appears that no other team even wants to show up for the 2009 Tri-Nations. South Africa has dominated in every aspect of every game. Australia and New Zealand both had flurries of attacking success but, overall, South Africa has suffocated the offense while remaining disciplined. The boot of Morne Steyn has been Chris Paterson-like so far this campaign, and has really won the games for South Africa. All Black and Wallaby penalties are killing any opportunities for South African losses.

All of this is happening without Bryan Habana. He is on the field, but has missed passes and knocked on often. He has not had the chance to stretch his legs and really show his pace in the three games played so far. It must be mentioned that New Zealand and Australia have kept him under close watch to prevent any of his signiture tries, however.

In the upcoming games, South Africa could play a few percentage points below their current form, and still come out on top. South Africa is well on their way to an undefeated campaign, despite two games in Australia and another in New Zealand.

In other news, rugby sevens is on the verge of becoming part of the Olympics. This is a good choice to have sevens and not 15-a-side, which takes too long to play and to long to recover from. In addition, with sevens, lower nations have a better chance to win. If the USA manages to pull off an upset, the game could catch on in America. Sevens is already a more popular game than 15s anyway here in the States. I was not very supportive of rugby in the Olympics, but it looks to be a better choice.

South African Domination

Last weekend, the Springboks showed why they are the World Champions. The All Blacks looked flat...again. And even though Morne Steyn scored all the points, the rest of the team still looked good. Or better than good. The Springboks are the team to beat right now. They are brushing aside the All Blacks like a JV high school team. They don't even look worried about playing them.

This weekend, the Springboks host Australia. Australia came out firing against New Zealand, but then lost some of their flair and dropped the first game. I don't expect them to beat South Africa, but they will give them a better game than the All Blacks did. South Africa by less than 10 points.

Now...the problem with the All Blacks. I think they need some new players tossed in to shake it up. Nonu and Smith in the center is old news. They've been there forever, and no matter how good a pairing is (D'Arcy/O'Driscoll) it can still fall flat (RWC '07). Ireland knows this. Mealamu is past his prime, and Andrew Hore isn't playing very consistently either, at least at lineout time. The props are mediocre. The second row is mediocre (although Ross is doing things second rowers don't do: kick 50m, run in tries...) and the back row just seems boring. Piri Weepu needs to start at scrum half, but isn't. Donald is good at fly half, at least right now. Mils is doing well at full back, but the formerly great wingers of Rokocoko and Sivivatu look like their tricks have all been uncovered. Neither of them look able to break the line, not to mention the fact that both of them look a little chunky. The All Blacks need different wingers, someone very fast and agile, to compete. Rokocoko looked like he was trying to barge up the field, but lacked the strength against the Boks. And Sivivatu just looked slow.

~Tyler