The Wallabies have received the best draw imaginable for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. If results go according to seedings during the pool stages of the tournament, the Wallabies cannot run into the defending champion Springboks or the top-ranked All Blacks until the final.

In addition to landing on the opposite side of the draw as their two Tri Nations rivals, Australia have also been grouped in a relatively easy pool alongside Ireland, Italy and two qualifying teams from Europe and America.

Currently ranked eighth in the world, Ireland are the lowest-placed side from the so-called band two nations that the third-ranked Australians could have been pitted against in the pool stages.

If results go according to the seedings during the round-robin phase of play, the Wallabies will meet Wales in the quarter-finals.

Should they win that match, they would qualify for a semi-final against either Argentina or France, with South Africa or New Zealand likely to be awaiting the Wallabies in the final.

New Zealand and South Africa would not be so pleased with their draws.

Apart from having the more difficult prospective semi-final, the All Blacks have been grouped alongside France, who eliminated them from last year’s tournament, while the Springboks are in the same pool as reigning Six Nations champions Wales.

WORLD CUP DRAW
Pool A: New Zealand, France, Tonga, Americas 1, Asia 1
Pool B: Argentina, England, Scotland, Europe 1, playoff winner
Pool C: Australia, Ireland, Italy, Europe 2, Americas 2
Pool D: South Africa, Wales, Fiji, Oceania 1, Africa 1

Quarter-final 1: Pool B winner v Pool A runner-up
Quarter-final 2: Pool C winner v Pool D runner-up
Quarter-final 3: Pool A winner v Pool B runner-up
Quarter-final 4: Pool D winner v Pool C runner-up

Semi-final 1: Quarter-final 1 winner v Quarter-final 2 winner
Semi-final 2: quarter-final 3 winner v quarter-final 4 winner

Final: Semi-final 1 winner v semi-final 2 winner

In stark contrast to the last time Henry left Europe, 13 months ago after the World Cup, he can look forward to a stress-free holiday reflecting on how he managed to salvage a damaged reputation by retaining the Bledisloe Cup and Tri-Nations trophy.

A grand slam and the Hillary Shield - for beating England 32-6 at Twickenham last Saturday - marked the end of an international campaign that had threatened to unravel after Robbie Deans’ Wallabies won the first trans-Tasman battle 34-19 in Sydney on July 26.

Instead, the All Blacks avenged that defeat seven days later in Auckland, the first of nine consecutive victories.

Henry’s contract as All Blacks coach expires at the end of next season but on this year’s form the 62-year-old is not yet ready to be pensioned off.

Weary from a long night celebrating in the team hotel, Henry was in no mood to speculate on whether he would be in charge when the All Blacks host the 2011 World Cup.

But there is little doubt he has been invigorated by his new-look team’s resurgence after successive losses to the Springboks and Australia.

A second clean sweep of the Home Unions was the crowning moment for Henry, who has looked more relaxed as it became apparent neither Scotland, Ireland, Wales or England were able to live with his team for 80 minutes - or, for that matter, score a try.

“I’m just delighted about the way the guys have hung in there, kept their intensity, kept their level of performance, it’s remarkable really,” said Henry, whose record with the All Blacks now stands at 55 wins and eight losses since he replaced John Mitchell in 2004.

“People just worked hard, the team’s knuckled down and got tight as a group of people. It’s just a complete package.”

It is also a radically reconfigured package after Henry, once he was controversially reappointed, had to compensate for the loss of a dozen or so of his World Cup squad, among them veterans like Anton Oliver, Carl Hayman, Jerry Collins, Chris Jack and Aaron Mauger.

Henry has always maintained how critical the experienced core of Richie McCaw, Rodney So’oialo, Ali Williams, Dan Carter and Mils Muliaina were in achieving this season’s success.

Henry is confident the nucleus of the next World Cup squad is already in place.

“I think we’re in good shape. I’d imagine the core of those who played (against England) will still be here in 2011,” he said.

Meanwhile, assistant coach Wayne Smith also rededicated himself to the cause yesterday by confirming he would see out his two-year contract.

Smith said the All Blacks environment was simply too fulfilling to give up, adding that Henry’s attitude this season had aided his decision.

“He protected a lot of people after the World Cup, he took a lot on his own shoulders and he’s learnt from the experience,” Smith said.

In an interview last week, Stirling Mortlock told journalists that the best way to defeat the rush defence of Wales was for him to smash through the first tackler and then for the Wallabies to re-cycle the ball quickly with the attack to take advantage of being behind the Welsh defence.

The theory sounded fine. But unfortunately after 2 minutes and 4 seconds of this absorbing and well-played (by Wales) Test there was Mortlock leaving the field with yet another head injury.

Without Mortlock’s smashing and barging runs and his two-shouldered defence in the middle of the field, the Wallabies were exposed. Wales, cleverly coached by Warren Gatland and highly-skillful especially with their running angles and off-loading, ran at the soft Wallaby middle. Two terrific ensemble tries were scored, and more threatened.

The opening sequence of play, in hindsight, revealed the pattern of the dire afternoon for the Wallabies and sheer pleasure for Wales.

The Wallabies kicked long. As with virtually every kick in the Test, there were no chasers. Wales banged the ball well into the Wallabies half. Why didn’t the Wallabies do what the All Blacks did and kick to the small Shane Williams and take him out of the game for the next phases?

Drew Mitchell knocked on the return kick. Phil Waugh won a turnover. But from the scrum, which was reset several times with the Wallabies having difficulty (which continued throughout the Test) holding Wales, which won a tap penalty.

The ball was moved across the back line. Mortlock, going for an interception, was injured.

The ball was then kicked into the Wales 22. Luke Burgess was somehow shunted off the ball. Wales regained. Then Wales kept on recycling the ball with phase after brilliant phase until Shane Williams (a worthy IRB Player of 2008) put Jamie Roberts through a hole about 40m out. A phase or so later with Stephen Jones firing a long clearing pass, Williams was over.

This tended to be the pattern of the Test. The Wallabies found it difficult to make breaks against a fast Wales defence. Matt Giteau’s kicking was poor. The chase was even poorer. And there was no menace to the Wallaby attacks.

The first Wallaby try came from a Welsh mistake from a lineout move that went wrong for Wales with everyone in the backline.

The second Wallaby try came right at the end of the game when instead of kicking the ball back and not chasing, Drew Mitchell scythed through. Now the Wallabies went through their phases and a try was an almost inevitable result. Why wasn’t this done earlier in the Test?

Unfortunately, only moments earlier Wales had gone into a 21 - 13 lead when Stephen Jones kicked a penalty following a very poor decision from the referee Alan Lewis (an Irishman, despite his name) who missed a Welsh player coming into a ruck blatantly from the side. When Ryan Cross (rightly) complained, the penalty was marched 10m forwards.

But let’s be fair and honest.

Wales deserved to win 21-18. They played the more enterprising and effective rugby, on attack and defence. Right at the end when the Wallabies had one last chance to snatch the game out of the fire, they could not move the ball, despite a series of phases, more than 10m forward before conceding a turn-over.

With Mortlock off the field and with George Smith on the bench until the last 20 minutes or so, the Wallabies did not have a world class player on the field. This assertion includes Giteau who was outplayed by Stephen Jones in all facets of the game.

Wales in fact have a number of players of world class: Lee Byrne, an outstanding running fullback; Shane Williams; Stephen Jones; Gareth Cooper a long-passing and sturdily-built running halfback; Ryan Jones, the abrasive, hard-working flanker and captain; and Andy Powell, big, fast, skillful, tough, the best number 8 currently in world rugby.

This nucleus of world class players, if they are around in 2011, could give Wales a tremendous shot at a Rugby World Cup victory.

And the Wallabies? At the beginning of the season I wrote an article suggesting that the Wallabies had a great coach but the coach had ordinary players to work with. This assessment remains true at the end of the Test season. Two players who have really come on, though, are Stephen Moore, arguably the best hooker in the world right now, and certainly the best lineout thrower, and Peter Hynes, a winger who has done everything right for the Wallabies this year.

But a coach can only do so much. Throughout the year the Wallabies have refused to chase kicks, even kick-offs which were all too deep against Wales. The scrum came right for a while against England, and then slipped back a bit against France, and a bit more against Wales. Sooner or later, sooner presumably, Al Baxter has to be replaced with someone who can hold his side of the scrum up Test after Test.

There has been little menace in the backs and no blinding new talent has emerged. Luke Burgess, who was better with his passing on Saturday, has regressed from the splendid runner who ignited the Waratahs in the middle of the Super 14 season.

Still, the All Blacks were comprehensively defeated at Sydney, the Springboks thrashed in South Africa for the first time in 8 years (before the Springboks wrecked a terrible revenge), England was defeated at Twickenham and France at Paris.

Moreover, the Wallabies were within four points of defeating an outstanding Wales side at Cardiff with the singing and the roaring for the home side.

To come so close to winning an Euro-Slam suggests that the Wallabies are within reach of becoming a very good side. Next year, perhaps.

If I were grading the Wallabies and the coaching staff, I’d give the coaches a B and the players a C+ for a season where there were some notable triumphs, but not enough of them.

England were fearful of a hiding of Springbks proportions at the hands of the NZers who were chasing a Grand Slam. So they tried to ensure that as little rugby as possible could be played, and to test the referee to penalise them continually while he endured the pent-up, stupid wrath of the home crowd.

To his credit, Alain Rolland, an Irishman and a former first class halfback, had the courage to defy the baying of the crowd while he awarded 15 penalties against England, to 7 against NZ (four of them in the first few minutes of the Test). He also sin-binned four England players and warned England that more of them could be sin-binned (’every one of you, if you continue to do what you are doing,’ he told the captain Steve Borthwich).

Danny Care, the halfback, a jersey-puller and feisty thug, could easily have been sin-binned several times, as well.

All Blacks were held back. They were elbowed. England played off-side deliberately. They dropped the scrum was often as they could. The mystery to me was this: why not use all this energy to play some rugby and try to defeat the All Blacks rather than try not to lose by too many points.

To a certain extent the tactics worked. It was not until the 60th minute that the All Blacks got a strangle-hold on the match after smashing England in a scrum, winning a tight head and then moving the ball along the line for a brilliant try scored by Mils Miliania.

I read the English experts to see what they thought about this disgraceful insult to the game. The Usual Suspect while conceding that ‘England forgot the laws, or the referee’s interpretation at least’ (I get it, the the referee was to blame), supported the disgrace by arguing that ‘this match was better for England.’

Paul Ackford, a former England second-rower and a rugby writer I admire, while acknowledging that the cheating as damage limitation ‘had some merit’, went on to make the point that ‘if this England squad is reduced to serial illegality just to keep in contention then that is a pretty damning indictment of their rugby prowess.’

I would go much further than this. The England game plan is a revealing indictment on the attempts by the Rugby Football Union (the England rugby union) to remain an arbiter of the laws and practices of rugby. How the RFU can oppose the ELVs on the grounds that they take the structure out of rugby (whatever than nonsense means) while condoning its national side not to play within the laws of the game is something that is impossible to comprehend.

Also, Ackford was generous enough to call the All Blacks ‘this wonderful team’ and the ‘best side on the planet by a distance.’

‘It was a pleasure,’ he said, ‘watching them deliver their lesson.’

As the All Blacks were part of a Tri-Nations invasion that lost only one Test to the northern hemisphere powers, it is obvious that the southern hemisphere way of playing rugby and understanding of the zen of the game is infinitely superior to the northern teams (with the exception of Wales).

And this applies, one would think, to how the game can be improved with improved laws.

The Wallabies were unable to recover from a chaotic first half in which they lost skipper Stirling Mortlock and winger Peter Hynes, both to head knocks, and also had hooker Stephen Moore sin-binned for a professional foul.

The battered Australians were fortunate not be trailing by more than five points at the break and, once Welsh flyhalf Stephen Jones potted a 76th-minute penalty goal to put his side eight points up, their dreams of becoming the first Wallabies since 1996 to complete a four-Test spring tour of Europe lay in tatters.

For Wales, it was an ecstatic end to a memorable year in which they also won the Six Nations crown and also challenged the the Springboks and All Blacks during their autumn Test program.

The Australians had been expecting a torrid time from the Wales’ rushing defence, rated the fastest in world rugby, but they couldn’t possibly have been expecting what transpired in the second minute.

Welsh centre Jamie Roberts absolutely poleaxed Mortlock in an ugly off-the-ball collision as the Australian captain appeared to be hunting an intercept.

Mortlock was in Disneyland and, after several minutes’ treatment, had to be replaced, with rookie Quade Cooper being thrust into the centres.

The incident rattled the Wallabies while lifting Wales, who crossed for a breathtaking try just two minutes later.

And it was the newly-crowned world player of the year Shane Williams who completed the movement, the fleet-footed winger diving over in the right corner to give Wales a 5-0 lead.

Phil Waugh assumed the captaincy and had an almighty job trying to restore composure amongst the shellshocked Wallabies.

Wales dominated for most of the first half, but a crucial 65m runaway try to lock Mark Chisholm, after he swooped on a loose ball at the back of a lineout, and Matt Giteau’s conversion plus a 25th-minute drop goal briefly gave Australia a 10-5 lead.

The Wallabies’ woes continued, though, with Hynes forced off on the half hour, prompting coach Robbie Deans to throw Lote Tuqiri into the fray for the first time all tour - before Moore received his yellow card in the 27th minute.

Wales took full advantage in his absence, fullback Lee Byrne running a beautiful line off a Williams short pass to score untouched in the 31st minute.

Jones’ conversion gave the European champions a 15-10 halftime lead, but Deans would have been hugely relieved to get to his troops before any more damage was inflicted.

But there was little relief after the interval, with the Wallabies also having to contend with referee Alan Lewis - Australia’s nemesis in the Bledisloe Cup loss to New Zealand in Hong Kong four weeks ago.

While missing countless Welsh forward passes, Lewis repeatedly punished the Wallabies again at the breakdown and only some wayward goalkicking from Jones prevented the home team from increasing their lead.

The final insults came in the closing five minutes when, after patiently working their way towards the Welsh line through gritty and well-constructed forward play, Lewis again pinged the Wallabies for a ruck infringement.

A minute later, Lewis handed Wales another penalty after Cooper had been tackled in the air, prompting the flabbergasted Wallabies to berate the Irishman, who marched Australia back 10 metres.

The advance allowed Jones to drive the final nail in the coffin with a 35m penalty goal.

A consolation try in the dying stages to winger Digby Ioane proved just that - scant consolation for a spirited but vain effort.

Wallabies five-eighth Matt Giteau has been offered a staggering $10 million dollars to play club rugby in France. Bayonne, the club that lured Craig Gower from NRL club Penrith, has approached Giteau with a four-year deal that would make him the highest-paid player across either rugby code.

The Wallabies star met with billionaire club powerbroker Alain Afflelou before Australia’s victory over France in Paris last weekend, the report said.

Giteau is keen on pursuing a short-term release to play in France, similar to the deal All Black Daniel Carter struck with the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) to sign with Perpignan.

An Australian Rugby Union (ARU) spokesman said on Friday Giteau had not requested a temporary release from his contract.

“Matt is under contract with the ARU until 2011 and for him to play overseas he would need a clearance from the ARU,” the spokesman said.

The ARU refused to comment on whether Giteau would be granted a release should he formally request one.

Giteau will be a key figure as the Wallabies take on Wales in Cardiff on Sunday morning (0130AEDT) in the final Test of their spring tour.

But Henry, whose side will seek to wrap up a Grand Slam tour by beating England at Twickenham on Saturday, fears Johnson may not be given sufficient time to rebuild, judging by the critical mauling he has suffered in the wake of last Saturday’s 42-6 defeat by South Africa.

Another heavy defeat at the hands of New Zealand on Saturday would leave Johnson under serious pressure but Henry believes the man who captained England to World Cup glory in 2003 can overcome a sticky start, just as Henry did during his time with Wales.

“I remember a young coach who came over to coach a team call Wales in 1998,” Henry recalled.

“In their first four games they lost three times. The coach received a letter from a guy quite highly-placed in the Welsh game offering him a one-way first-class ticket back to New Zealand.

“But he hung in there and won a few games (11 in a row) after that. It might be a similar situation for Martin. Maybe he needs patience.

“He’s a man of high standards who achieved great things in the past. He was respected by his peers and led by example.

“But you must give him space. It’s not as if the team he’s coaching is full of experience. The media can kill him or support him.”

The Australian Rugby Union have played down the likelihood of a Bledisloe Cup Test staged in the United States despite American organisers talking up the clash. The Metro Denver Sports Commission said they were close to confirming the Wallabies-All Blacks clash to be played in Colorado at the home of the NFL’s Denver Broncos late next year.

But the ARU, who are also looking at London and Tokyo as venues for the Bledisloe money-spinner, are still a fair way from deciding on a preferred host.

“There’s still three options on the table for an additional Bledisloe Test next year,” said an ARU spokesman.

“There’s Tokyo, Denver and also the possibility of Twickenham.”

The underlying concern for the ARU and the NZRU over Denver would be the prospect of not selling out the the 76,000-capacity Mile High Stadium and the match turning into a novelty event.

Rugby is only a minor sport in the USA but Commission president KieAnn Brownell said Colorado had the union community and interest to fill the regular NFL venue.

“We’re pretty close,” Brownell told the Rocky Mountain News. “Our job is to get out of the box, to look for events that aren’t necessarily on the country’s radar.

“We think Colorado has a huge rugby population and a strong
interest in the sport, and we fancy the idea of bringing rugby
events to Denver and growing the community here.”

The Denver Barbarians compete in the national Rugby Super League and the sport’s national governing body, USA Rugby, is based at the nearby university city of Boulder.

A proposal to play the Test, tentatively set for late October 2009, at Mile High Stadium was sent to the ARU and NZRU last month.

On Tokyo’s side is the fact the ARU are keen to further expand the game into Asia, especially after a successful first off-shore transtasman Test in Hong Kong this month.

The match, won 19-14 by NZ, was the fourth Bledisloe Test this year and reportedly boosted both the ARU and NZRU coffers by more than $A3 million.

Twickenham, the home of English rugby, has advantages with the large communities of Australian and Kiwi expats living in Europe.

The defending champions kept Australia scoreless in the two tries to nil opening half before Luke Morahan pulled one back shortly after the break.

New Zealand then shifted into overdrive and ran home three tries for a ruthless 26-point victory.

The undefeated Kiwis, who will next play Kenya, finished top of Pool A, ahead of Australia, Wales and Zimbabwe.

“They outmuscled us unfortunately,” said Australian Sevens coach Michael O’Connor.

“Their defence won it for them. They swarmed us and we made a couple of silly plays.

“This was a great experience for these young guys though. All but one of our squad have never played before on the Sevens circuit.

“So we’re still in it, we’re into the quarters.”

Earlier, Australia beat Zimbabwe 21-12 and Wales 22-17 in the other pool matches to advance to the quarter-finals of the IRB competition.

Australia’s quarter-final opponent South Africa topped Pool B after downing Scotland 31-10 the Arabian Gulf 33-0 and Kenya 31-0.

Several All Blacks, including Carl Hayman, Chris Jack and Luke McAlister, opted to play in the Premiership following New Zealand’s quarter-final loss to France in Cardiff during last year’s World Cup.

They joined a raft of New Zealanders already in England, yet such is their playing strength the All Blacks responded to this latest depletion of their resources by going on to win this year’s Tri-Nations title.

There has been no let-up in New Zealand’s form since their arrival in Europe and victory over England at Twickenham on Saturday will see the All Blacks complete a grand slam after wins already this month against Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

England were thrashed 42-6 by world champions South Africa at Twickenham last weekend as they suffered their heaviest home defeat.

And Henry warned the presence of so many Kiwis in key positions at club sides was hampering the development of future England players.

“It’s about getting the opportunity to play at the top level,” said Henry. “When you continue to fill up the Premiership with New Zealanders and the English guys don’t get a chance then the national side is going to suffer.

“The best way is to stop all of the Kiwis coming over,” the former Wales coach added.

Although England were savaged by the Springboks, Henry was adamant his men were expecting a stern test this weekend against a side they’ve beaten in their last six meetings.

“The score against South Africa wasn’t a true indication of the game,” insisted Henry. “England wouldn’t have been happy with their performance, but the score was bit off.

“England have traditionally been the strongest of the four nations over the last 30 years.

“They’re going through a team-building process and will have been ’steeled’ by what happened at the weekend. They’ll give everything to play well. We understand that and will prepare accordingly.”