Dumped Wallabies winger Lote Tuqiri has revealed he is weighing up whether to return to rugby league or chance his arm in the overseas rugby market.

With the prospect of a cracking Tri Nations coming up, and a Lions series almost wrapped up by a Southern Hemisphere nation for the third time in a row, can we now look towards the world’s premier rugby competition?

This is what we know, or think we know, about Lote Tuqiri’s sacking by the ARU. He was sacked on Wednesday. The police are not involved in investigating any matter regarding the sacking. The ARU denies emphatically that the sacking is part of a witch-hunt to get rid of Tuqiri.

Like him or loathe him, as I presume Lote Tuqiri now does, it’s clear John O’Neill rules Australian rugby with a firm hand. (I was going to say “he casts a long shadow”, but that is true only very late in the day!)

Lote Tuqiri and his representatives have declined to take up an invitation from Australian rugby boss John O’Neill to make public details of the incident which resulted in the Wallaby winger’s contract being torn up.

Australian rugby boss John O’Neill has denied he pursued a personal agenda against sacked Wallabies winger Lote Tuqiri. O’Neill fronted the media on Thursday but continued to refuse to disclose the reasons for the sudden termination of Tuqiri’s contract on Wednesday.

A return to the NRL for Lote Tuqiri seems unlikely with only one club expressing a serious interest in the sacked Wallaby. Of all 16 NRL clubs, only the Gold Coast have said they would actively pursue negotiations with Tuqiri if he was interested in returning to rugby league.

Lote Tuqiri has engaged lawyers and will launch immediate legal action against the Australian Rugby Union following the shock termination of his lucrative contract.

The return of NSW Waratahs No.8 Wycliff Palu and the selection of the 21-year-old Queensland Reds halfback Will Genia highlight the 30-man Wallabies squad named on Thursday for the upcoming Tri Nations tournament.

Lote Tuqiri has been sacked for disciplinary reasons after his latest indiscretion, the last in a long list of issues. It’s the culmination of a player with the potential for behavioral problems combined with being out of touch with a game that’s left him behind.

The Wallabies’ extra match against the All Blacks in Tokyo this year is likely to be the last time a fourth Bledisloe Cup game is played before the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Concentration on playing professional rugby is the key to the Wallabies achieving their full potential. Not just on the field for 80 minutes, but off the field for the duration that they are playing rugby in Australia.

The defining moment of the Australia (22) v France (6) Test at the ANZ Stadium came not long after half-time when France intercepted a pass deep inside their own territory (as they did to win the first Test against the All Blacks) and a certain try under the Wallaby posts was on.

The Wallabies have credited the coaching smarts of Robbie Deans for implementing a vault-like defensive system which they hope will prove the cornerstone of a triumphant Tri Nations campaign.

Whenever an all time Wallabies XV is discussed or displayed, almost without exception, the number 7 jersey, or open side flanker position, goes to Col Windon.

Three Wallabies, including teenage sensation James O’Connor, have been fined for engaging in a food fight at their team hotel.

Superstar five-eighth Matt Giteau scored all the points as the Wallabies issued a warning to their Tri Nations rivals with a 22-6 triumph over in-form France at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night.

As a player in my younger days, there was always the Players’ Player award. For me, this was always the best award to win, both on a game by game level and as a major award at the season’s end.

The Wallabies, after the early shock of the step up in intensity, matched the French in the first half. The French didn’t get their tails up. This built up pressure which in turn tested the French discipline. They failed the test, conceding four 3rd quarter penalties. The game was then for the Wallabies to lose. [...] Read article

The Wallabies are refusing to be lulled into a false sense of security as the French continue to lay on the charm ahead of Saturday night’s keenly-awaited rugby international at ANZ Stadium.