If you want to read a piece of baseless muck-raking journalism at its best (or should that be worst?) have a look at this piece from Peter Jenkins in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph:

Sacking me ‘crazy’: Connolly

DEFIANT Test coach John Connolly last night warned that any push to sack him before the World Cup in France would be “crazy”.

The return of John O’Neill as ARU chief executive will raise the heat on Connolly if the Australians misfire during a Tri-Nations campaign to kick off in South Africa on Saturday night.

It’s a hoot. The whole article is generated by putting the completely hypothetical supposition to Connolly that IF the Wallabies don’t do well in the Tri-Nations he MAY be sacked, because John O’Neil once did something KINDA of similar at Soccer Australia. No scoop, no quote, no inside story, no nothing.

I’m no Knuckles fan per se, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure that regardless of how well Australia do in this Tri-Nations, replacing him after the tournament not only makes no sense, I’d wager it’d prove pretty impossible; who (of any standing) would pick up that poison chalice weeks before a world cup? The only guy I can think of desperate enough to do that would be Eddie Jones. Perhaps that’s Jenkins’ next scoop:

What’ll be more interesting now will be to see whether this “Knuckles out” line of thinking gathers momentum. Already this article has been syndicated by Reuters and picked up by Rugby Heaven (here). I also notice that Jenkins and Greg Growden of the Herald have not only been sharing ideas, but even the same phrases, on the same days. See these two articles getting the witch hunt ball rolling:
Selectors go back to the future – Peter Jenkins, Daily Telegraph June 4
Backs to the wall for Boks test – Greg Growden, SMH June 4

Over the coming weeks and months there’s going to be plenty about which to have a go at Knuckles and the Wallabies. Why the need to concoct useless drama?