Rugby Union: Ship-shape Horan plans Pom reversal

TIM HORAN has spent the last decade getting things absolutely right on the international field, so it is entirely predictable he should wish to spend the next week or so getting things absolutely right off it. Australia's most-capped centre - he graces the Wallaby shirt for the 70th time against England this weekend - appears to be a stone-cold certainty to join the rest of the rugby planet in signing for Bristol, but he is flatly refusing to go public on his plans until he has finished going private.

"I can tell you only that I've made my decision," he said during yesterday's Wallaby training session at the Concord Oval, once the main Sydney Test venue but long since overtaken by the Sydney Football Ground and, most recently, Stadium Australia. "However, the first people I plan to tell are those who most need to know: my playing colleagues, my coaches and the Australian Rugby Union. I want to be fair to them, as they've been fair to me. I won't be saying a thing to anyone until the Centenary Test with England is over and done with. It's a huge game for us and I don't want my future to be interfering with our preparations."

Rod Macqueen, the Wallaby coach, was the first to say "Amen" to that. But Macqueen looked and sounded like a man resigned to losing his most accomplished inside back to the wallet-wielding Premiership pot-hunters from the West Country. "Tim did the hard yards for Australia when rugby was still amateur, so I can quite understand his being tempted by an offer to play out his career in Europe and I don't have too big a problem with it. The players I really don't want to see disappearing abroad are the young guys in whom we've been investing tremendous amounts of time and expertise."

Horan would be another whale-sized catch for Bristol, who clearly intend to leave a serious mark on next season's Premiership or go spectacularly bankrupt in the process; Henry Honiball, the Springbok outside-half, has already confirmed his post-World Cup move to the Memorial Ground, together with two England internationals, Spencer Brown and Garath Archer. Quite what Bob Dwyer, who coached Horan to a World Cup winner's medal in 1991 and now coaches Bristol, intends to do with all his centres remains a mystery. Last season's Premiership Two champions already have George Leaupepe, the Western Samoan, and Mark Robinson, an outstanding prospect from New Zealand. Jamie Mayer, the young Scottish Test midfielder, is also contracted.

Meanwhile, Horan predicted the Wallabies would have to improve by at least 30 per cent on last Saturday's shambolic victory over Ireland if their centenary celebrations are not to be gatecrashed by their beloved Poms. "I have a very healthy respect for England," he said. "I've seen a lot of them down the years and they can play a bit. We got a number of things wrong against the Irish in Perth and, even though we won the Test, we left there knowing that we couldn't afford any sort of repeat performance."

Macqueen, perhaps the most realistic international coach in the business as well as the coolest, was very much of the same opinion. "We wanted to take our game to a new level in Perth after winning the first Test against Ireland pretty convincingly, but we didn't get anywhere near our targets," he admitted. "We'll need to sharpen up this weekend, for sure. It's a very significant Test for both countries and it's one England have come to win; they've been out here preparing for it for nearly five weeks, so they must be up for it. Last year, we played their third team. This time, it's the main men."

Of the main Wallabies under varying degrees of medical supervision, most appear to be making good progress. Matt Cockbain, the Queensland blind- side flanker, will definitely start the Test after spending a rough 80 minutes in the front line against the Irish and concerns over two tight forwards, Dan Crowley and Tom Bowman, have receded. The main worry surrounds the new outside-half, Nathan Spooner, who failed to go the distance in Perth. If he is suffering from concussion, as the English suspect, one of Macqueen's many options would be to shift Horan to stand-off, Jason Little to centre, Chris Latham to wing and restore Matt Burke as a goal- kicking full-back. Winger Ben Tune has been cleared to play after recovering from shoulder and knee injuries.

Worryingly for South Africa, New Zealand and the hopefuls north of the equator, Australia seem likely to arrive at this autumn's tournament with a full hand of 24-carat match-winners. Macqueen expects John Eales, his great second row and captain, to make the it, along with Steve Larkham, his premier No 10. Burke will also arrive in Britain in peak shape, irrespective of whether he starts this weekend's match; if his performance in training yesterday was not "full on", God help the opposition when he starts getting serious.