As the Super League season has finished, I have to admit that somehow I have found myself watching the repeats of Sex and the City with the wife of late.


So in keeping with their theme, this week I am going to look at something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue.


Our Saturday night Test on Sky Sports this week is sandwiched between something very different; we've reached the qualification stages for the 2008 World Cup - which we will be screening.


The first World Cup took place in France back in 1954 and it was the first World Cup in either of rugby's codes. Over the last 53 years we've had 12 tournaments to find the world champions but only two teams have lifted the cup - Australia and Great Britain.


On Friday night (7.30pm, Sky Sports 3) we will see two new teams to emerge on the international scene, when Ireland take on Lebanon in a game which guarantees the winner a chance to walk out in the opening ceremony in Sydney next October.


Lebanon appeared in the last World Cup, and are developing nicely. Ireland are yet to feature in the World Cup, but have a passion to get there this time.


Rugby League live on Sky Sports
IRELAND v LEBANON
7.30pm, Friday, SS3
GREAT BRITAIN v NEW ZEALAND
5.30pm, Saturday, SS2
SCOTLAND v WALES
2pm, Sunday, SS3

Both teams are confident and evenly-matched - when they met last November in Dublin, the game ended in an 18-18 draw.


Borrowed

In case you are wondering how Lebanon fit in, a lot of their players are plucked from the large Lebanese community in Sydney and although he is not playing on Friday, their star man Hazem El Masri is one of the best players in the NRL. That tells you what they might well be capable of.


But, if that's the old and the new, what do we have that's borrowed and what do we have that's blue?


The action on Sunday (2.00pm, Sky Sports 3) comes from the home of the Glasgow Hawks rugby union team.


The Scottish rugby league team have borrowed these facilities for the last five years and will be running out in their blue kit to take on a Wales side who have stars like Lee Briers and Iestyn Harris aiming to prove that the Dragons are good enough to go to Australia.


The Welsh team need to win by eight points or more to qualify, because Scotland won 21-14 when they met in Wales last year.


It is a little complicated and at this stage, purely hypothetical to try and work out just who will be heading to Australia.


But the 2008 World Cup is a 10-team tournament, with a group of four - Australia, England, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea - and two groups of three, including France.


Intrigued? Well you can see it all, right here on Sky Sports.

This article was posted on 31-Oct-2007, 08:21 by Hugh Barrow.