The Australian Rugby Union is confident that backrower Toutai Kefu, Australia's best player on the recent tour of Europe, will reject a club offer from Japan and stay with the Wallabies for the 2003 World Cup.
Kefu has been offered $1.77 million to play in Japan, but ARU chief executive John O'Neill says he believes Kefu will remain in Australia and be a part of the team that attempts to defend the World Cup.

"We have been in talks for many months with Toutai and we believe we will reach agreement with him very shortly," O'Neill said. "Can we afford to pay Toutai $700,000 a year, no, we can't but that is not where we are coming from."

"At his age he can play for another two years and earn very good money with us, play in the next World Cup and then go off and play wherever he wants to Japan or wherever. He is a must get, there's no doubt about it, he's a very important part of our plans for World Cup 2003."

O'Neill also refuted claims that new skipper George Gregan is on the verge of signing a two-year contract worth more than $1 million, saying the Zambian-born player is already under contract with the ARU.

"No they are not (true), he is already signed up for the next two years, up till 2003," O'Neill said. "The figures are exaggerated but George is very well rewarded as a great player and captain."

Meanwhile the ARU and the SANZAR board that is made up by South Africa, New Zealand and Australia is considering a move to ensure the Wallabies and their southern hemisphere counterparts would finish their season by the end of October.

The possible move comes after the Wallabies, Springboks and All Blacks all had to endure lengthy breaks following the end of the Tri-Nations competition before making their tours to Europe.

"We are not making any excuses for being well beaten by France and England and there is a lot of contributors to what was very much a below standard expected performance," O'Neill said.

"(But) we do end up playing our rugby over a long period of time, but no one is pretending that the players are being overplayed."

When asked to assess Australia's performances in 2001, O'Neill says the team was on track to an almost perfect rating after retaining the Bledisloe Cup and Tri-Nations, but took some of the gloss off with the losses to England and France.

"I would have to give us a seven out of ten, it was nine out of ten before the European tour," O'Neill said. "This has to be looked on as part of the cycle."

"We have had three years of sustained success from 1999 to 2001, three years as the best team in the world even at the 31st of October the Wallabies were given the trophy as the best team in the world."

"I think 2001 has been a wonderful year and I don't think you go from the best team in the world to number five in a matter of three weeks. It is a timely wake up call to analyse where we are going and what we've been doing."