EVEN if the Northern Hemisphere is invading the South for players and cracks are appearing as a trickle of top players head for the UK and the money, they still hold sway when it comes to the actual rugby.

What a barnstormer that Tri-Nations clincher was between Australia and New Zealand.

For sheer intensity, quality and drama it took some beating and if anyone thinks we can remotely match that here he is living in cloud cuckoo land.

It was Australia, then it was New Zealand and finally Australia prevailed as inspirational captain John Eales consistently turned down penalty chances in favour of going for the line via line out drives.

And it paid handsome dividends, reward for Eales, one of the finest captains to grace the game.

Eales has been a great ambassador for the game and for a country not normally noted for the modesty Eales displays.

A gentleman just like Gary Teichmann, now so sorely missed at Newport, Eales will be hard to replace.

Newport are struggling to find their feet without the great man, and already it looks as though they're going to find it mighty hard to clinch a top four finish.

Cardiff and Swansea have all their star players to come back, Llanelli have won in Ireland and won't be far away and Neath have already announced their intentions of gatecrashing the party.

Unbeaten, sitting pretty at the top of their Celtic League pool and with infusion of quality new players, they look like being the team to beat.

Newport will do well to finish above any of them given the lack of real pace in the side, a shortage of power and real line-out ability up front, the inability to throw in accurately, and inconsistency at half back.

It's a heck of a task for new coach Ian Mclntosh and away games this month against Munster, Neath, Bridgend and Newcastle represents a real tall order.

Ebbw Vale look like struggling to make an impact as well, especially as they like Newport, failed to drive home their advantage against a perceived top four side.

Newport were unable to make it count against Cardiff and Vale couldn't overcome a Swansea side similarly shorn of stars.

In Vale's case they have much more limited resources, exist in an economically depressed area and have 18 newcomers in their ranks.

But it still promises to be a battle royal to escape the foot of the table, and they could end up in another contest with Caerphilly.

The powers that be still can't seem to make up their minds about whether there should be nine Welsh teams in the top flight.

Last season the premier clubs voted for eight only for the WRU to overrule them and say it would be nine.

This season already the clubs have again said eight with the ninth relegated and a play-off between the eighth and First Division champions.

That was rubber stamped by the newly formed management board made up of four members from the clubs and four from the WRU.

But though that board is supposed to be autonomous, the WRU general committee have again tried to rule it should be nine because of two-year contracts already signed by clubs and their players.

So what is it to be? Eight or nine? Does anybody out there know?