Eales discounts England's 2003 chances

The 1999 World Cup-winning Australian captain John Eales says he believes that South Africa and France are the biggest threats to the team's bid to defend their title at home next year.

South Africa finished last in the annual southern hemisphere Tri-nations tournament this year, as the Wallabies split their two matches with the All Blacks who won the trophy back from Australia.

Captain George Gregan's Wallabies hosted Six Nations champions France earlier this year, winning both tests. France were the beaten finalists in 1999 against Australia.

"Obviously my heart and money say Australia every time," Eales was quoted as saying by The Sydney Daily Telegraph yesterday.

"But I think the teams that will be the most difficult to beat will be France and South Africa," said Eales, who added he thought England might struggle.

"They [South Africa and France] are teams that show great enterprise. They're very unpredictable and they're getting the core basics of their games pretty much right as well.

"But significantly, while France lost the two Tests in June, they left a few key players at home. They will be stronger than they were this year."

Eales played down England's chances in the October-November 2003 tournament. "I think the time of year will be difficult for them," he said. "It's certainly possible they could win the World Cup but I think they'll have to play a lot better to win it here than they would have to if they played at home," Eales said of England's poor record in Australia.

The operations of the All Blacks team have been restructured, New Zealand Rugby Union acting chief executive officer Steve Tew announced yesterday.

In future the head coach, currently John Mitchell, will be accountable for all aspects of the All Blacks. Tew also revealed that as a result of the changes, the All Blacks manager Andrew Martin had tendered his resignation.

"This is a change in philosophy about the way the All Blacks should be run," Tew said. "The head coach will have all All Blacks coaching, medical, logistics and media staff reporting to him.

"It is unfair to hold the All Blacks coach ultimately accountable for the performance of the team if he is not responsible for all aspects of the side. The NZRU and the All Blacks constantly look for areas of improvement and the change is as a result of that desire. The Rugby World Cup is only 12 months away so it's important we fine tune the organisation of the All Blacks."

Tew said that under the new structure the manager's position would focus on logistics and operational detail. This position would be filled before the All Blacks tour of England, France and Wales in November.