Waratahs v Reds Australia's match-up of the year

SYDNEY - The Waratahs and Reds do battle tonight in an all-Australian match that has all the ingredients of a thriller.

The Reds have been impressive lately and should start as firm favourites, despite the Waratahs' excellent home record this season.

Their 33-22 victory against the Highlanders last Sunday was their fourth in a row, and they are still very much in the hunt for the fourth playoff position.

But they have the annoying habit of going off the boil after dominating early in their recent wins. If they could string it together for 80 minutes, it might be scary.

The Waratahs earned a mathematical chance of making the playoffs by squeezing out a 25-22 victory against the Crusaders in Sydney. A host of results have to go their way this weekend, but it might be best they sit out the semis, judging by their form in that game.

Earlier in the season someone said the Waratahs' Matt Burke was a shoo-in to reclaim his Wallaby No 15 jersey from Chris Latham.

It was all the Queenslander needed to spark him out of an early-season slumber and it's no coincidence that the Reds' resurgence has come at the same time as Latham's sparkling return to form.

He was awesome against the Highlanders.

As far as Australian rugby is concerned, this is the match-up of the season.

Burke got the early points, but Latham has come storming back and at the moment would be favoured to retain his fullback jersey.

Then there is the battle between flankers Phil Waugh and David Croft.

The Reds' Croft has been forgotten in all the talk surrounding Australia's young flankers in Waugh and the Brumbies' George Smith.

But his form in recent games has made a significant impact for the Reds in their late surge for the semifinals.

Waugh is the Waratahs' most consistent player this season and gets through a mountain of work across the field.

The scrap between these two will be a beauty.

At first five-eighths, Manuel Edmonds squares up to Elton Flatley. One of these players is likely to back up Stephen Larkham for the upcoming tests against the British Lions and for the Tri-Nations.

Edmonds was in superb touch at the start of the season, and will pose a major threat for the Reds with his running at the line.

Flatley had his season disrupted by injury, but has bounced back with a vengeance.

The Reds are reaping the benefits of his general organisational work, and he is the tournament's most successful goalkicker.

The connoisseurs would like to see players on both sides overcome the intensity of this often-bitter inter-state clash and play an open, free-flowing game.

- REUTERS