This is it ? the big one for 2008, the one some people in Australasia call the real World Cup. It's the last match of the Tri-Nations, a final in more senses than one. The winner will take all. And if there is a draw, the All Blacks will take all. The Wallabies must win to win.

They must also win to keep alive any hope they may have of wresting the Bledisloe Cup from the All Blacks' grasp. It is the third of the four matches for the cup. Each side has a win. A win for New Zealand in Brisbane will enable the All Blacks to keep the cup as the Wallabies must win the series to take possession of the huge trophy.

The Wallabies have home-ground advantage and so far this year they have won all their home matches ? played five, won five. They have beaten Ireland, France twice, New Zealand and South Africa. That's a good haul, which suggests that on any given day they could beat anybody on earth.

But the same is true for the All Blacks. They, too, could beat anybody on earth on the day, but then, too, as in Sydney and Dunedin, they can be beaten, which is part of the unpredictable wonder of sport.

Both sides have won away and both sides have suffered heavy defeats ? the All Blacks in Sydney and the Wallabies in Auckland and Johannesburg, On the two occasions the teams have met in this year's Tri-Nations, there have been big wins for the home side: 34-19 to Australia in Sydney and 39-10 to New Zealand in Eden Park.

Both won in South Africa. New Zealand lost to South Africa at home and Australia were thrashed by South Africa but up in Johannesburg.

So when you try to wrestle with the future and work out who is going to win, you end up with a head full of confusion. It would be much better just to look forward to seeing two of the top teams in the world going hammer and tongs at each other, using skill, cunning and sinew, striving to impose their wills on the opponents, grabbing every slice of luck they can in their pursuit of victory. And they are two wonderful sides and it is a match certain to be played with high intensity and tempo. It is no wonder that Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane is sold out and no wonder that millions of people will be watching their television sets with wide and unblinking eyes on Saturday.

Just a glance at the teams tells you there is going to be a lot of greatness in Brisbane on Saturday.

The match officials are all South Africans. Jonathan Kaplan, the referee, equals Paul Honiss's world record for Test caps as a referee and becomes the referee who has refereed most Tri-Nations matches. Both teams will know him well.

Players to watch: New Zealand's Richie McCaw is back. That in itself is a huge weapon in the All Blacks' arsenal. You would watch him and abrasive Ali Williams and calm Daniel Carter and aggressive Ma'a Nonu and combative Jimmy Cowan. That is a remarkable list. And on the other side there are evergreen, all-action George Smith, smooth Matt Giteau, rugged Rocky Elsom, sturdy Adam Ashley-Cooper and unyielding Nathan Sharpe. Sharpe may attract particular interest with his recall as the locks with the schoolboy looks were blown away in Johannesburg. Sharpe will not be blown away.

Will the return of Sharpe and a change of tactics enable the Wallabies to get their wonky line-outs right? Even with Sharpe they were badly beaten in Auckland, but then they had two stubby loose forwards playing, and now Elsom is back in town. Head to Head: It will start in the front row. That is always a confrontation but with accusations against the honesty of the Wallaby front row and scorn for their abilities, this may be a conflict to ignite a conflagration. It is hard to see the Wallabies standing up to the All Blacks here ? hardened Tony Woodcock, Andrew Hore and Greg Somerville of New Zealand against gentle Benn Robinson, eager Stephen Moore and Al Baxter who pulls faces as if conducting his own personal haka at each scrum but may in fact be Australia's Achilles' heel.

Behind them the New Zealand locks, Ali Williams and rock-like Brad Thorn look stronger and more suited to the tough stuff than Nathan Sharpe and ever-improving but slightly loose James Horwill.

All of that suggests that the All Black tight five will be better than the Wallaby tight five.

That means that the All Black loose forwards are likely to be able to function more effectively than the Wallaby loose forwards. That said the battle between tall and strong Richie McCaw and short and strong George Smith could be one of the great man-to-man contests of 2008's rugby.

Matt Giteau against Daniel Carter may well be a battle for the World' Best Flyhalf title. In inside centre there is a possible clash of titans, Ma'a Nonu of the gold-tipped mane against powerful, proud Stirling Mortlock. At outside centre there is a possible victory for aggressive Ryan Cross whose omission in Johannesburg surprised many. But it has been said that the All Blacks are likely to target the Wallaby midfield. That could be a mistake. There are four good wings on view with Peter Hynes surely unlikely to repeat his poor performance in Johannesburg.

At fullback there are also two top players ? smooth and experienced Mils Muliaina against tough Adam Ashley Cooper.

It will, of course, again be seen as a head to head of coaches, the one who somehow kept his job against the one expected to get the job, who then got another job. Of late Graham Henry has got things right, as he failed to do last year. Most recently Robbie Deans got many things wrong for the Johannesburg Test but is a man with a long track record of getting things right. But ultimately it's a players' game.

Tri-Nations Results

2008 New Zealand won 39-10 at Eden Park, Auckland
2008 Australia won 34-19 at Stadium Australia, Sydney
2007 New Zealand won 26-12 at Eden Park, Auckland
2007 Australia won 20-15 at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
2006 New Zealand won 34-27 at Eden Park, Auckland
2006 New Zealand won 13-9 at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
2006 New Zealand won 32-12 at Jade Stadium, Christchurch
2005 New Zealand won 34-24 at Eden Park, Auckland
2005 New Zealand won 30-13 at Stadium Australia, Sydney
2004 Australia won 23-18 0:1 Stadium Australia, Sydney
2004 New Zealand won 16-7 at Westpac Trust, Wellington
2003 New Zealand won 21-17 at Eden Park, Auckland
2003 New Zealand won 50-21 at Stadium Australia, Sydney
2002 Australia won 16-14 at Stadium Australia, Sydney
2002 New Zealand won 12-6 at Jade Stadium, Christchurch
2001 New Zealand won 26-29 at Stadium Australia, Sydney
2001 Australia won 23-15 at Carisbrook, Dunedin
2000 Australia won 24-23 at Westpac Trust, Wellington
2000 New Zealand won 39-35 at Stadium Australia, Sydney
1999 Australia won 28-7 at Stadium Australia, Sydney
1999 New Zealand won 34-15 at Eden Park, Auckland
1998 Australia won 27-23 at Jade Stadium, Christchurch
1998 Australia won 24-16 at Cricket Ground, Melbourne
1997 New Zealand won 36-24 at Carisbrook, Dunedin
1997 New Zealand won 33-18 at Cricket Ground, Melbourne
1996 New Zealand won 32-25 at Lang Park, Brisbane
1996 New Zealand won 43-6 at Athletic Park, Wellington

Prediction: We all know anything can happen. We all know that not even a majority poll will produce a winner. But we are going to say New Zealand to win by more than 10 points.

Teams:

Australia: 15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Peter Hynes, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 Stirling Mortlock (captain), 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Sam Cordingley, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Adam Freier, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Hugh McMeniman, 19 Phil Waugh, 20 Richard Brown, 21 Brett Sheehan, 22 Drew Mitchell.

New Zealand: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Richard Kahui, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 John Afoa/ Neemia Tialata, 18 Anthony Boric, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Isaia Toeava.

Date: Saturday, 13 September
Kick-off: 8pm (10am GMT)
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Expected weather conditions: There is a 30 percent chance of rain, but it will go away and leave just scattered clouds for the evening. The temperature will be a high of 24?C dropping to 16?C and a breeze from the northwest.
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan
Touch judges: Craig Joubert, Mark Lawrence
TMO: Johann Meuwesen