Rugby World Cup final 2007

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Rugby league football is a full-contact team sport played by two teams of thirteen on a rectangular grass field. Rugby league is one of the two major codes of rugby football, the other being rugby union.

Rugby league takes its name from what was initially a breakaway faction of the English Rugby Football Union (RFU) known as the Northern Union, and was played under the same rules as rugby at first. When similar breakaway factions occurred from RFU-affiliated Rugby Unions in Australia and New Zealand in 1907 and 1908 they formed associations known as Rugby Leagues and introduced modified Northern Union rules. The Northern Union later changed its name to the Rugby Football League. Thus, the game became known as rugby league. Over the following decades the games rules were gradually changed and now rugby league is a distinctly different sport.

The aim of the game is to score points by carrying an oval ball (the correct geometric shape is a prolate spheroid) up the field towards the opposing team's in-goal where the ball is grounded to score a try (worth four points). This is to be done by the attacking team within a "set of six" tackles allowed before the ball must be handed over to the opposition. The opposing team attempts to prevent the attacking team from carrying out this objective by tackling the player with the ball. After scoring a try the scoring team then has the right to attempt to kick a goal (worth a further two points if successful). The kick may be taken from any point on an imaginary line parallel with the touch-line and through the point where the try was scored. The team with the most points at the end of two 40-minute halves wins.

Like most forms of football, rugby league's roots can be traced to early football history, through the playing of ball games which bear little resemblance to modern sports. It is then important to acknowledge the development of the modern codes and two separate schisms in football history.

In the nineteenth century football was most prominently played in private schools. Each school had its own rules based on whatever playing field that was available to them. The rules could be categorised as either handling or kicking forms of football. The kicking and handling forms were later codified by The Football Association and the Rugby Football Union (RFU) respectively.

In 1895 rugby football was later beset with a schism that resulted in the formation of the Northern Rugby Football Union (NRFU). Although many factors played a part in the split, including the success of working class northern teams to the irritation of the gentry who ran the game, the main division was caused by the RFU decision to enforce the amateur principle of the sport, preventing 'broken time payments' to players who had taken time off work to play rugby. Northern teams typically had more working class players who could not afford to play without this compensation, in contrast to southern teams who had "other" sources of income to sustain the "amateur" way. There were similar movements in other countries. In 1895 a decree by the RFU banning the playing of rugby on pitches where entrance fees were charged led to the famous meeting on 29 August 1895. Twenty-one clubs (plus Stockport who negotiated by telephone) met at The George Hotel in Huddersfield and formed the Northern Rugby Union. Within fifteen years, more than 200 RFU clubs had left to join the rugby revolution.

[Rasputin]

The Super 14 remains a lottery, except for the sustained outrage from Reds coach Eddie Jones.

As the series continued its 2007 journey as an undistinguished rugby raffle - how else do you explain the Lions' win against the Crusaders - Jones hit the soapbox again.

His target? The policing of the scrum.

Not so much the crouch, touch if-you-feel-like-it, pause and engage instructions, although that elongated set of commands is doing little for teams' scrummaging rhythm. Rather Jones is upset - no, more like bitter - because he believes his side are being punished for having a strong scrum.

He savaged referee Matt Goddard after the Reds lost a snoreathon against the Brumbies, and the week before Jones aimed similar sentiments at referee Mark Lawrence for his inability to judge the scrums correctly.

Jones is probably still carrying a fair burden from his years when the Wallaby scrum could not find a forward gear, and the selection scars from picking Matt Dunning may still be closing.


However Jones' exasperation about the scrums is shared. And it extends to a swarm of uncertainty about the rucks and mauls, why we need coaching from match officials and their version of forward passes, the offside line, obstruction and dangerous play.

It is difficult enough watching the rugby-by-numbers routines in the Super 14, where most games merge into each other because of the robotic demands on players and defensive systems which are far too potent for the attacking plans.

But back to the scrums - or forward, as Jones would like his pack to be allowed to operate.

The Reds looked to get a regular hit on the Brumbies, from the scrums to the sideline scrap and the swinging arm from midfielder Lloyd Johansson on Stirling Mortlock. For all the Reds' apparent scrum dominance, they were nailed by referee Goddard.

Jones saw Red and savaged the referee. Jones may face an Australian Rugby Union code of conduct charge today because of his outburst, but amid that powerplay subplot involving his former employers, he makes some strong points.

"It's not good enough, not good enough for rugby," Jones said. "We're saying the scrum's a contest so we've got a stronger scrum there, and the stronger scrum gets penalised. That just doesn't make sense.

"And he refused to speak to our hooker and he said our prop [Rodney Blake] packed too low. Props are supposed to pack low. It was ludicrous."

So was much of the rugby. However, if you like your games close, then the latest round was special, with seven points the largest winning margin. Every team got a bonus point or more.

The Hurricanes were the only New Zealand side to win, in the derby with the Blues, while the others stumbled to patchy defeats in South Africa, the quality of their play leaching away without their international stars.

For the first game in six years, the defending champions, the Crusaders, failed to score a try, while the Chiefs, for all their promises about redemption in Cape Town, lost again to give the Stormers their first victory this series.

Up on the veldt, in a match where fullback Cameron Shepherd shone, the Force made the Bulls pay for their arrogance in not taking close penalty attempts and claimed their second win on the road.

The Highlanders lost their second successive game in the republic and their conquerors, the Sharks, remain the only unbeaten team.

[Rasputin]

There are those who are getting a tad nervous about this Saturday at Croke Park and the hair-raising moment when the Irish Army Band will strike with God Save the Queen.

Don't be. In fact I confidently predict it will be one of the most dignified and uplifting moments - sporting or otherwise - of 2007. The Irish team and 70,000 Irish supporters will stand in respectful silence - as they always do at rugby internationals - and the England team and their 12,000 travelling fans will sing lustily. Some may even be in tune.

The compliment will instantly be returned when the Irish anthems are sung like never before. The tears will flow - before, during and after - because these will be among the loudest, proudest and most poignant moments in modern Irish history. But then on with game.

It was ever thus when Ireland meet England. Sport, and rugby in particular, has always risen above the War of Independence and the latter day "Troubles", and Saturday's epic match more than anything should be seen as a celebration of those close ties, even though it will take place on the very turf where Her Majesty's Forces once gunned down and killed 14 Irish citizens and injured 80 others.

Of course the worst kept secret is that, in rugby terms, Ireland and England get on famously, always have done. Go on any Lions tour and invariably it is the Irish and English players who get on best. Damned if I can tell you why, they just do.

It might be something deep in the psyche - perhaps the English subconsciously respect the Irish for standing up and escaping the clutches of Empire, while the Scots and Welsh appear a little unsure of their identity - or possibly there are other factors.

In Wales' glory days there was an immodesty, vitriol and taunting in victory over England, that bordered on the socially unacceptable for the next 12 months. England might even occasionally have scored more points than Wales but they were never acknowledged as victors. Sporadic Scottish triumphs, meanwhile, have heralded more acclaim and chest-beating than victory at Bannockburn - and more offensive language than Braveheart Mel Gibson on a big night out. Being the team that everybody loathes and hates, as a matter of course, can become tiresome and England have therefore always enjoyed, and appreciated, Ireland's Olympian equanimity in such matters. To quote former Ireland captain Willie John McBride: "It matters a great deal who is going to win, but not at all who won."

Or, finally, it could just be that the traditional gregariousness of the Irish teases the best out of the English on tour. To see Keith Wood and Jason Leonard in action together, on and off the field, was to see kindred spirits cutting a swathe through life. Blood brothers in everything but name. There is definitely an academic paper or thesis to be written one day about the contribution of the Irish Lions to the peace process in Ireland. The fact that Irishmen - North and South - happily contributed to what was widely perceived as a 'British' cause, yet still retained and promoted their separate national identities in complete harmony and accord.

It requires mental gymnastics of a high order to get your mind around that one, but what a brilliant subliminal example for one and all. Any takers among you second-year undergraduates out there? It would involve lots of drinking beer in clubhouses and talking to rugby legends. No, can't see that interesting anybody.

The most memorable manifestion of Anglo-Irish unity came on Feb 10, 1973 when England defied IRA death threats and pitched up at Lansdowne Road to fulfil that season's Five Nations fixture - Scotland and Wales had declined to travel the previous season and the Irish Rugby Football Union were facing major cash-flow problems as a result. Nowhere in the world has any England sporting team received a reception to match the five-minute standing ovation they earned that day.

But it has been far from one-way traffic. HM Forces have always been packed with outstanding Irish international rugby players serving King and country, though not necessarily their own country. Indeed, by my count at least 28 Ireland internationals have been decorated by British monarchs for their bravery including three of rugby's four Victoria Crosses.

Remarkably those three Victoria Crosses come from one club in Dublin - Wanderers - whose famous clubhouse was the building that looked like a country pub nesting in the corner of Lansdowne Road that was. Thomas Crean, one of Ireland's greatest forwards, won his VC as an Army medic in the Boer War and later added a DFC on the Western Front before taking to drink and passing away a broken man in 1923. Robert Johnston from Donegal, a staunch friend of Crean, won his VC with the Imperial Horse in the Boer War, while Frederick Harvey was awarded a VC for his bravery at Guyencourt in March 1917 with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. He also later received an MC.

And so to Saturday. There is no need for the England team to be apologetic and feel awkward - they and their sport played no part in the events of 1920 - and Brian Ashton should take a bow before a ball is even kicked for asking former Ireland captain Conor O'Shea to address the England team on the subject at their Bath hotel tonight. A fine gesture and an acknowledgement of Irish sensibilities that will be warmly appreciated. Brian Moore looks ahead to Croke Park s19

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rugby baraye tamasha khoobeh...ama na baraye bazi kardan,..ye bf dashtam ke toye time rugby-e nice bood, va harbar mididamesh ye jash tike o pare bood....

[Rasputin]

Wales hope under-fire Jones can revive grand manner

The defining moment in Wales's grand slam season two years ago was arguably not Gavin Henson's late 45-yard penalty which sank England in Cardiff. It came at the start of the second half against France in Paris when the outside-half, Stephen Jones, whose side had been outplayed in the opening half but trailed by only six points, launched a counter-attack from his own 22 which ended with the flanker Martyn Williams scoring a try to launch a remarkable comeback.

The confidence Wales generated from the way they fashioned their third victory in four visits to the Stade de France helped them defeat Scotland and Ireland to clinch their first grand slam for 27 years. But far from building on that success Wales have won only one match in the Six Nations since then and are without a win in their last five.
Jones returns to the Stade de France on Saturday as the Wales captain but the man who was feted as a hero after his exploits in the French capital in 2005 has this month had his character assassinated in the Welsh media with calls for James Hook, who has been used at inside-centre this year, to be moved to outside-half.

Wales have not enjoyed much success in the last 20 years but on the rare occasions it passes their lips the effect prompts an enduring hangover. Three months after winning the triple crown in 1988, their first for nine years, the coaches Tony Gray and Derek Quinnell were fired and Wales won one Five Nations match in the next three years. In 1994 they won the championship but were whitewashed the following season and their management team, which included the current national head coach Gareth Jenkins, resigned before they were dismissed.

Their grand slam winning head coach, Mike Ruddock, left abruptly a year ago after the victory over Scotland, Wales's last over a nation in the top 10 of the world rankings, for reasons which have never been satisfactorily explained. Jenkins took over last May but, apart from a draw against Australia last November, he has struggled to repair the mental anguish the Ruddock affair induced in the squad, with player power unofficially cited as a reason for the head coach's departure, and has this year hired a sports psychologist, John Neal, to help the squad face the future for a country in which success and failure both induce hysteria.

Jenkins, like his captain, finds himself in the dock after the poverty of Wales' performance against Scotland in Murrayfield earlier this month. "I think some in the media have an agenda which makes their criticism unfair and not to be taken seriously," he said. "No one has to tell me to keep my chin up. We are on a journey and it is about where you are. If you do not perform you do not get rewarded. You should expect criticism if you perform as badly as we did in Scotland. I know I am fair game and I understand the emotion that failure generates in Wales but you cannot allow it to infiltrate what you are doing.

"If you allow emotion to creep in, it becomes destructive. It is not the first time I have been told I cannot coach. It does not matter what environment you are in, if you become reactive, you are losing not winning. You have to be proactive. There is nothing we can do about Scotland except ensure that in future we are able to meet that sort of challenge. That is where we can use a sports psychologist to our advantage and we will be positive in France. Stephen is the man to lead us and he is handling himself very well."

Jones is a player who invariably wears a smile but it had a forced look this week as he reflected on calls for him to be dropped. "The last couple of weeks have been very intense," he said. "Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I am not going to take it personally. I am not someone who lets himself get weighed down by criticism. I use it more as motivation. I have a job I love and I have confidence in my own ability. We did not turn up in Scotland but we have a potent set of backs and forwards who fronted up well against Ireland. We all want to put things right."

Wales will have seven grand slam regulars in their starting line-up on Saturday. Williams, who scored two tries in Paris in 2005, believes there is a simple reason why they failed to capitalise on the success of that year. "We were crippled by injuries last season," he said. "Guys like Tom Shanklin, Ryan Jones and Gavin Henson were out for long periods and at the moment a new squad is gelling together. The criticism of Stephen and the coaches is ridiculous. People should see that there is a lot of potential in this side. We have shown glimpses of what we are capable of and we need to do it consistently."

When Wales are doing badly at rugby, players are reluctant to be seen in public. "You are made very aware of how people are feeling," said the second-row Ian Gough. "People come up to you in supermarkets and say all sorts of things, from 'you're a disgrace' to 'you're bloody rubbish'. You want to do your shopping but all you get is insults. As a nation we seem to struggle for perspective; a few years ago Colin Charvis was branded the second most hated man in Wales behind Saddam Hussein while Neil Jenkins was put through hell in his playing days despite all he achieved. It's the way it is in Wales."

[Rasputin]

England consigned to history in a sea of Celtic rugby
Keith Duggan at Croke Park
Monday, February 26, 2007

As evening fell and Dublin city fuelled itself for a wet, shining night of booming bars and mammoth taxi queues, it was hard not to feel rather sorry for the sons of St George huddled in the upper echelons of Croke Park.

All week, it had been made abundantly clear that this match, this occasion, was about Ireland. And obligingly, meekly, England bowed. Somewhere along the way Irish history, GAA folklore and the pomp and glitter of modern day rugby had become muddled to create a strange and fascinating night on the Jones' Road.

By the time Ronan O'Gara delivered his wonderful homage to Gaelic football, old Erin was feeling mightily pleased with herself. The Cork man floated a daring kick across the Canal End of the ground with 10 minutes left. Shane Horgan made a dashing fetch and grounded the ball for a celebratory try. And just like that, Blighty was dashed and humbled.

As shows go, England's momentous visit to the citadel of Gaelic culture was a master class of choreography. Predictions of insurrection and protest on the streets never really materialised. But then, it rained cats and dogs in Dublin all afternoon and Manchester United and Fulham were playing on the box. It was tough for patriotism to get a look in.

The crowds gathered late around Dorset Street, which meant a late scramble to make the house seats in time for the long-awaited rendition of God Save herself. After a long delay and a chorus of nervous laughter, the Combined Army and number one Garda Band struck up the mournful, brassy bars. The English sang lustily to their Ma'am. The Irish stayed perfectly silent. Like Rural Electrification, Sex, and Getting Rich, we applauded ourselves on getting it over with.

And after that, The Soldier's Song was belted out from the famous horseshoe stadium with ferocious gusto. The white-shirted English stood tightly together as the Irish anthem rained down upon them.

And who could guess what big Phil Vickery or David Strettle, the blond new boy from Rotherham, made of this thundering show of national pride? Strettle came into the English world just after the Falklands War, grew up in the Thatcher years and became a professional rugby player. They say you never forget your international debut. And given that Strettle's debut week involved a lecture in Irish history, that must have been especially true.

The English didn't ask to play in Croke Park but, scheduled to travel here, they made sure their boys knew about those distant events of Bloody Sunday.

Will Carling, the captain of England during their powerhouse years of the 1990s, made the point on Saturday morning that it would be wrong if the current England team were somehow made to feel guilty about an atrocity that came in the wake of the first World War. And that never happened.

But as the Irish anthem reached a mighty crescendo, it was hard not to feel that the tens of thousands of home fans were claiming a moral high ground which these young Englishman could not possibly be expected to know or understand.

Mired in history, England also got lost in Celtic rugby. After a few minutes of what Eddie O'Sullivan termed "shadowboxing", the Ireland rugby boys took ownership of Croke Park. There were some glorious passages of play during the infliction of the 43-13 victory, a record. The geometric beauty of O'Gara's strategic kicking, the monstrous hit by Brian O'Driscoll on England's Ollie Morgan, the Harlem Globetrotter's flick from Gordon D'Arcy for Girvan Dempsey's try, the sight of the flame-haired Paul O'Connell battering at the all-white pack: Ireland were rampant.

How odd it must all have been for Brian Ashton, who presided over a disastrous Irish team 10 years ago, to return to this magnificent stadium and see men in green shirts fling the ball about like New Zealanders.

In the emigration years, Ireland regarded a rugby victory over England as a miracle. Remember the stunned delight that followed Simon Geoghegan's try in Twickenham in 1994? It was a bit like mooning their Royal family.

On Saturday, it was different. Ireland expected the tries to roll and, worse, so did England.

Jonny Wilkinson, the golden boy of three years ago, was just another player in white. When he did briefly rally England hearts, the Croke Park crowd quickly booed and hushed a doomed attempt to sing Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. We were bossy hosts.

And when Issac Boss raced in for a late, giveaway try, a plaintive, Fat Cat chant filled the soaking, neon Dublin night.

"Easy. Easy. Easy," was the abiding message from Croke Park.

God above. We sounded pleased. We sounded almost English.

[Rasputin]

South African Rugby Union chief Oregan Hoskins has ordered rugby unions to curb "reckless spending" or face closure.

His no-nonsense warning comes after the union's annual meeting in Cape Town on Friday, where its latest financial statements were disclosed.


Saru showed a small profit of around R2 million compared to the Australian and New Zealand Rugby unions, which made healthy profits of more than R100m each.

Hoskins told Weekend Argus yesterday the poor financial discipline displayed by some of the smaller unions had to stop.

"We cannot have some of these unions spending money they simply do not have. As the mother union we will not continue to prop up these unions if they do not apply strict and sound financial discipline," he said.

The 14 unions receive around R5m in grants each year from Saru. "If they continue to spend more money than they have, they will face the same consequences any business or organisation would face when it runs out of money - they will be declared bankrupt and face closure."

Hoskins said this was an outcome that had to be avoided.

"Some of the unions have turned around their financial situation by applying strict financial discipline. Some do not have one contracted professional rugby player, and only pay their players match fees. These are steps that some of the other struggling unions will have to take to survive.

"Once such unions have shown the required financial discipline we have no doubt that business will regain confidence in them and will then support them."

Hoskins said the financial failure or even closure of some of the smaller unions was "simply too ghastly to contemplate".

"That is why we have stepped in and given this warning. The reckless spending of money they do not have has got to stop.

"Rugby is a proud sport and we cannot allow it to fail. But as long as we have maladministration, corruption and bad financial management we will not solve the problem.

"The stand that I am taking today may not be a popular one. It might not be politically correct and some may feel we should simply have plastered over the cracks.

"But I say no. We have to take a stand. We cannot keep going down a road that will lead to disaster. We cannot continue keeping everyone happy by using up all our cash reserves and end up the laughing stock of the rugby world because we cannot run our finances."

[Rasputin]

Gavin Henson, who was yesterday ruled out of the rest of the Six Nations Championship campaign in which he has played no part because of a knee ligament injury, will have six weeks at the end of the season to prove he is worth a place in Wales's squad for the World Cup.

Henson and his partner, Charlotte Church, announced this week they were expecting their first child in September, but the centre will have to deliver long before that if he is not to miss out on his second successive World Cup campaign.

Wales's head coach, Gareth Jenkins, who did not pick Henson in the opening three championship matches because he felt the 25-year-old was out of form, said he will be an interested spectator when the Lion makes his expected return at the end of the month after a period of rest, which was deemed to be the cure for his injury rather than surgery.

"Gavin needs to play and produce some form," said Jenkins. "We will watch him when he returns to fitness and monitor his progress until the end of the season. He will have the opportunity to prove he is worth a place in our squad to tour Australia in the summer."

If Henson is left out of that squad his chances of playing in the World Cup will depend on the fitness of others, especially as the midfield is not one of the problem areas for Jenkins, whose side have lost their opening three Six Nations matches.

England will have eight of their starting line-up in Dublin last Saturday in Premiership action this weekend. The exceptions are the injured trio of Olly Morgan, Jason Robinson and Magnus Lund, while Leicester's quartet will be on the bench against Harlequins today.

Gloucester are likely to appeal against the 13-week touchline ban imposed on their director of rugby, Dean Ryan, on Thursday night for threatening and verbally abusing the referee Rob Debney after the match at Saracens last month.

Ryan, who is suspended from the pitch, tunnel, touchline, technical and dressing room areas during match days until May 31, admitted directing abusive language at Debney after Gloucester's last-minute defeat at Vicarage Road, but denied threatening the official.

The Harlequins' full-back Gavin Duffy yesterday rejoined Connacht with immediate effect.

[Rasputin]

Super 14s Rugby Union
The Brumbies have been beaten by the Bulls in Super 14s rugby union, going down 19-7.

Taking a commanding lead before half time, the Bulls were no more relenting in the second half as the Brumbies struggled to find answers.

In the other game played today cellar-dwellers Stormers handed out a shock loss to the Hurricanes 30-17.

Meanwhile last night saw two draws with the Waratahs and the Force locked at 16 all and the Cheetahs and the Chiefs tied at 22 a piece.

Bucking the trend was the Blues, who destroyed the Highlanders 28-9.

[Rasputin]

Bristol failed to capitalise on Leicester's slip up at home against Northampton earlier on Saturday, which means that it's as you were at the top of the table and in the market for the regular season winner.

The Tigers are even money with bet365 and Ladbrokes, whilst Gloucester are next in the market at 3/1. Bristol - who keep getting overlooked by the layers - are as big as 9/2 with totesport and it's 16/1 bar those three.

Worcester's defeat against Gloucester, coupled with wins for Northampton and Newcastle, mean that the Warriors are now seven points adrift at the bottom of the Premiership and these next couple of games could well go a long way to deciding their fate. Skybet have them at 1/10 to go down and whilst this is by far the most likely outcome, they still have a chance to claw themselves out of the mire - but they must beat Bath this weekend.
LONDON IRISH v NEWCASTLE (Saturday, 15.00)

Although both sides won in the Guinness Premiership last weekend, Irish are bound to go into this game as favourites given that they have won back-to-back matches in the league but also because Newcastle's away form is so bad. The Falcons have only won once on the road this season which was at Edgeley Park back in November. Jonny Wilkinson, Mathew Tait and Toby Flood all form part of a Falcons side aiming to repeat the victory they achieved over the Exiles last season at the Madejski Stadium. Flood wears the No.11 shirt this weekend, but director of rugby John Fletcher insists that does not mean a spot on the left wing for the 21-year-old, with the back line continually shuffling places during the game. Irish's win over Sale on Friday night was their second on the trot but they will be glad to get back to the Madejski Stadium on Saturday where they have won their last three Premiership games. This all points to a win for the Exiles who could move up to sixth if Harlequins lose against Leicester. Surprisingly, the last three head-to-heads have all gone the way of the visitors in recent years but I can't see that happening here and the points should stay in Berkshire on Saturday afternoon.

Verdict: Irish by eight

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A rock of the All Blacks pack won't be moving anywhere after the World Cup after prop Tony Woodcock on Monday re-signed with the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU).

While second five-eighth Aaron Mauger has already confirmed his post-Cup shift to England - and lock Chris Jack has been linked with a similar move - the All Blacks' No 1 loosehead has extended his contract until the end of 2009.

The 26-year-old Blues and North Harbour player, a veteran of 27 Tests since his debut in 2002, confirmed the extension today, a decision applauded by NZRU deputy chief executive Steve Tew as "very significant".

"Tony is considered by many to be the leading loosehead prop in world rugby at the moment and is obviously a key player for the All Blacks.

"We certainly appreciate his renewed and ongoing commitment to the All Blacks and New Zealand rugby and his desire to continue playing rugby in New Zealand."


Woodcock debuted at Test level the age of 21 and is now a first-choice selection having played 11 of the All Blacks' 12 Tests in 2005 and another 10 last year.

[Rasputin]

Wallaby back Lote Tuqiri is likely to return to rugby league after reports yesterday of a downgrade in his new Australian Rugby Union contract offer.

Reports said the ARU's final offer to the Wallabies winger is $A400,000 ($460,000) less than their initial offer tabled last November. The latest offer prices Tuqiri at $A2.6 million over four years, reports said.

Yesterday's Sydney Morning Herald newspaper said sources confirmed the ARU's second and final offer to Tuqiri, which expires tomorrow, was $A400,000 less than the first.

The Herald said the latest offer was almost certain to result in the former Brisbane Broncos winger's return to rugby league, where the only NRL club interested in his signature is South Sydney.

The Herald said it understood that Souths, co-owned by Academy Award winner Russell Crowe, are putting together a package, which is about $A100,000 shy of matching the ARU/NSW Waratahs offer.

Tuqiri has been in negotiations with South Sydney co-owner Peter Holmes a Court and the pair were seen entering the offices of a financial services company in Sydney on Friday, the newspaper said.


Tuqiri, his manager, Holmes a Court and Channel Nine executives have also met to establish whether the television network were prepared to go ahead with a third-party sponsorship deal of Tuqiri to help the Rabbitohs sign him, it said.

The deal is seen as similar to the one Channel Nine organised to help keep St George Illawarra star Mark Gasnier in the NRL last year after interest from the ARU for Gasnier to switch codes.

Souths said they are confident of convincing Tuqiri to turn his back on rugby union and sign with them within days after the Herald said the ARU was displeased by Tuqiri's decision to reject its first offer, which was estimated at $A3million over four years.

The ARU's new contract offer is to cover the period after this year's World Cup in France, for which Tuqiri is contracted to play for the Wallabies, if selected.

[Rasputin]

Warrington were left counting the cost of the most one-sided match of Super League XII so far in which they went down 48-12 to a rampant St Helens.
The Wolves lost prop Paul Wood and half-backs Lee Briers and Chris Bridge to injury as they crashed to defeat, while Saints go top of the table on points difference.
Wood suffered a recurrence of an old shoulder injury, Briers pulled a hamstring and Bridge - who only last week returned from a pulled hamstring - went off with a groin injury.
"It's been a rough and tough 80 minutes and we've picked up injuries to boot," said coach Paul Cullen.
"We're very disappointed the scoreline ran away from us. To compete, let alone beat, Saints you need to be at your best and at your healthiest.
"We defended their early blitz really well but what we couldn't handle was the avalanche of penalties and decisions that went against us. We couldn't buy a decision or a penalty tonight."




Wigan coach Brian Noble watched his side edge a bruising engage Super League encounter against Harlequins - and admitted he is still hopeful of persuading young full-back Chris Ashton his future lies at the JJB Stadium.


Ashton was a shock omission from the Warriors squad for the game, fuelling speculation he has agreed a switch to rugby union with Northampton.
But Noble insists the teenager, whose contract is up at the end of the season, was left out for footballing reasons, and not for anything more sinister.
"Chris is a Wigan Warriors player, and we have offered him a new deal," Noble said.
"But he is a grown man and a decision will be made in due course.
"He's a free man at the end of the season, but I absolutely want him to stay in rugby league."
"Noble also admitted his huge relief after Wigan hung on for a 16-12 win, only their second victory of the season and their first at the JJB Stadium.
"I thought it was a tough game of rugby league," Noble said.

[Rasputin]