Must Tri-harder Nations

The world champions' rebuilding begins here, after the Melbourne tremor, with Jones able to recall injured luminaries such as Matt Burke, back as starting full-back, and Owen Finegan and Stephen

Larkham, who'll both play a part from the bench. With the thrilling talent of Mat Rogers to be utilised as starting centre, the suggestion is that we will soon get a glimpse of the real Wallabies again.

Jones says that in the year the World Cup comes to Australia, the hosts want to win the Tri-Nations more than their two rivals. This is doubtful. In South Africa, weeping and wailing about the Springboks has become so all-consuming that you could almost believe a nation's well-being hangs on a dramatic rugby recovery.

Bottom of the Tri-Nations for the past four seasons, the Springboks then lost on tour by record margins in successive weekends to France, Scotland and England - 104-19 in total - last winter and have been utterly unconvincing in recent home victories over Scotland, twice, and Argentina.

After the Pumas game, one newspaper ran the headline 'Skande - Bokke' (Bok Shame), describing the team as "tactically thick as stones and without skill". The most scathing stuff was aimed at coach Rudolf Straeuli, who, with his sweeping personnel changes - which keep suggesting he has no idea what his best side is - is reckoned to be a poor guardian of a grand legacy.

Old Springboks have been sticking the boot in, reckoning that England will have them for breakfast in their crucial World Cup group encounter in Perth and leaving captain Corne Krige to moan: "All this negativity and criticism doesn't help us at all."

Yet at least Krige hasn't found himself as widely condemned as All Blacks captain Reuben Thorne has been in New Zealand.

His critics say Thorne is not a good enough flanker to merit his place in the team, let alone captain it, forcing coach John Mitchell to make a public declaration of support.

"He is going to be my World Cup captain and people are just going to have to get used to it," he boomed.

Mitchell is also becoming increasingly defensive over widespread criticism of his sidelining of trusted match-winners Andrew Mehrtens and Christian Cullen.

Nobody's daft enough to pretend the All Blacks are in crisis but, as Jones pointed out: "We (Australia and New Zealand) have just had a little bit of a lesson from the Northern Hemisphere sides like England and France in the set-pieces, particularly in terms of the line-out."

This was England's June triumph - inflicting a touch of self-doubt where once only total self-confidence existed.

For the moment, at least, all the back-biting and disharmony - the sound of Southern Hemisphere uncertainty - can only be music to Woodward's ears.