Australia Profile

Colours: Green and Gold
Nicknames: Wallabies
Major honours: World Cup winners (1991, 1999); Tri-Nations champions (2000, 2001).

Coach: Eddie Jones took the reigns from Rod Macqueen following Australias series win against the British & Irish Lions in 2001. His quest to inject an attacking style of play into the Wallabies' defence-orientated system has been frustrated by the retirement of several key players and the injuries to other members of his squad.

Captain: George Gregan made an immediate impression on the nation's conscience early in his career with a last-minute try-saving tackle on New Zealand's Jeff Wilson that gave the Wallabies a win over their fiercest rivals. As well as his defence, the Zambian-born scrum-half's darting runs, flicked reverse passes and array of attacking skills have frustrated many a team.

Player(s) to watch: Matt Giteau won two Test caps before making his debut for the ACT Brumbies one at fly-half and one at open-side. Admittedly he came off the bench both times but he showed some precocious touches and fine skills with ball in hand. Other players to watch out for are in-form hooker Brendan Cannon, who is known for his huge heart and enjoyed a superb Tri-Nations campaign, and open-side stars George Smith and Phil Waugh who are likely to feature in tandem on the sides of the Wallaby scrum.

Profile: With two World Cups under their belt Australia can lay claim to the title of most decorated rugby-nation in the world, if not most successful. Indeed, in 2000 the Australian Rugby Unions trophy cabinet contained every international trophy contested.

What makes Australias recent dominance so notable is the fact that Rugby Union is considered to be the nations fourth sport behind Cricket, Australian Rules and Rugby League.

The seeds of the Wallabies success were sown after a slump in fortunes in the early 1970s triggered an in-depth survey of the Australian rugby union's past, present and future which resulted in a re-appraisal of coaching techniques and a restructuring of the entire administration.

Since that time the Australians have gone from strength to strength, investing heavily into the game and extending the appeal of the sport by pushing for the creation of the World Cup and the Tri-Nation tournament.

The growing success of the game and the exploits of its superstars like Mark Ella, David Campase and John Eales meant that the Wallabies bounced into the nation's imagination.

Slick marketing and good planning has swelled the ARU's coffers and their audacity to raid Rugby League and snatch icons such as Wendell Sailor and Matt Rogers shows that the sport is in rude health.

The fact that there are only 33,000 adult males playing the game in Australia (England has 160,000) is testament to what good organisation and consistent selection can achieve.