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This weekend's Test between Australia and France will tell us more, but Oval Talk has a suspicion Robbie Deans is building something pretty special with his Wallabies squad.

Consecutive home wins over Italy is nothing to brag about by Aussie standards - indeed it's to be expected - but the Wallabies have now won 13 of their last 18 Tests and are developing impressive strength-in-depth ahead of the Tri-Nations starting next month.

Last Saturday's win over Italy was achieved with pretty much a second-string side and it is the players left out that suggests the Wallabies are well on course in their preparations for the 2011 World Cup.

Having finally got the soft-prop monkey off their backs at Twickenham last November, Australia can boast at least six players who can rightly claim to be amongst the best in the world in their positions.

Stirling Mortlock, Matt Giteau, Stephen Moore, Nathan Sharpe (pictured), George Smith and Rocky Elsom would be a welcome addition to any side in the world, while the international development of teenager James O'Connor, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Ryan Cross, Berrick Barnes, James Horwill and Peter Hynes is coming along nicely.

Throw into the equation former Crusaders Super 14-winning coach Deans - New Zealand will surely live to rue the day they let him slip through their hands - and their ability to peak at the right time, and the Wallabies will be there or there about in 2011.

The next World Cup may be two years away, but with New Zealand's well-known propensity to crack under pressure and the Springboks' finest reaching the twilight of their careers, a few quid on the Wallabies to lift the Webb Ellis trophy for a record third time looks a good long-term wager.

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Talking of the World Cup in New Zealand, the late-night attack on giant France centre Mathieu Bastareaud in down-town Wellington at the weekend was hardly the best advertisement for the Land of the Long White Cloud.

It's the second year in succession that a Northern Hemisphere team has become embroiled in controversy while touring New Zealand, a society where rugby players are held in the same celebrity esteem as footballers in the UK.

Last summer four England players were the victims of a tabloid honey-trap that left a very bitter taste and indicated that future tourists to New Zealand would have to be very much on their guard.

Nor did the Brian O'Driscoll spear-tackle affair during the 2005 Lions tour endear the haka-loving nation to the hearts of British and Irish rugby fans.

The Bastareaud incident was serious enough for New Zealand Prime Minister John Key to mention it at his weekly press briefing, clearly mindful of the potential damage ahead of the 2011 tournament.

"From time to time you will get isolated incidents that reflect badly on either the public or on New Zealand potentially, I don't think we should blow this out of proportion."

Easy for you to say John, but you weren't the one attacked from behind by five morons.

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Poor crowds have been a depressing theme of the 2009 Lions. In the first six games there were more seats empty than full, while promises of a sold-out ABSA Stadium for the first Test failed to materialise as 3,000 seats lay unused.

The global economic downturn and greed on the part of South African rugby have been blamed for the rubbish attendances and the Lions have been quick to distance themselves from the restrictive pricing.

"The South African Rugby Union and its provincial unions had sole responsibility for the setting of ticket prices and the Lions management had no input whatsoever," said Lions chief executive John Feehan.

"The Lions did appoint official overseas travel agencies to service the requirements of travelling supporters. However, the tickets for this programme were purchased at full price from the South African Rugby Union.

"It is true to say we are very surprised at the level of the attending crowds. The Lions only visit South Africa every 12 years and it is therefore disappointing that the stadiums have been far from full." Quite.

Terence O'Rorke / Eurosport