CROWE FLIES IN FOR MEG

GLADIATOR star Russell Crowe last night jetted into the US to be reunited with lover Meg Ryan, quashing rumours that the couple had split. 

The heart-throb actor has been spending time in his Australian homeland, where's he's been linked with a string of women. 

It was rumoured that Russell strayed into the arms of actress ex-girlfriend Danielle Spencer, after the two enjoyed a cosy dinner together. 

And just days afterwards, he was said to have replaced Meg with Australian beauty Peta Wilson. 

But the star, who's tipped to win a Best Actor Golden Globe tonight for his performance in Gladiator, has rubbished the reports. 

The Sunday Mail can exclusively reveal that the bighearted actor, who spent time signing posters for a children's orphanage, is still head over heels with the Sleepless in Seattle star. 

A friend of the star who talked to him in Sydney before he left for Los Angeles said last night: "Russell's just fed up of the reports linking him to other women. 

"He's furious about what's being said. He's worried about the effect it will all have on Meg and was just in Australia to visit his family and friends. 

"He and Meg are set to hook up while he's back in LA for the Golden Globe awards, and everyone expects them to be together for that. 

"They're still very much in love."

Rus in tent on love

GLADIATOR star Russell Crowe is now sleeping under the stars with La Femme Nikita beauty Peta Wilson.

The Australian actor dumped Meg Ryan after a seven month romance because she doesn't like the outdoor life, say friends.

"But Peta does. After all, she is, like him, an Australian," said one. "Russell's still extremely fond of Meg and doesn't want to hurt her but they're from different worlds. 

"She's a typical Hollywood product and he loves the outback."

Russell and Peta, 35, met when he invited her to his ranch outside Sydney for a New Year's Eve party. 

"They've been camping out together in the outback," said the insider.

Meg's dad blasts Crowe over cows comments
FARMYARD FUN - LONDON

Actress Meg Ryan's father has blasted her Australian ex-lover Russell Crowe for claiming they split up because he missed the cows back on his farm. 

Ryan, 39, left her husband of nine years, actor Dennis Quaid, after falling for Crowe on the set of their action movie Proof of Life last year. 

But the six-month affair with New Zealand-born Crowe, 36, ended before Christmas when Crowe returned home to his Australian farm. 

"Home is the space I get to wake up in the sun," Crowe has since said. 

"It's the really simple things. It's rough being away from your dog for six months. That's rough stuff, man."

But Harry Hyra was furious with Crowe for publicly humiliating his daughter and branded the Gladiator star a ladies' man, the Daily Star reported. 

"What Russell has been saying about preferring to be with his animals over Meg is insulting," Hyra was quoted as saying. 

"If he was really into Meg he would have let her go with him or split his time between Los Angeles and Australia. 

"But to claim that he would rather be with his cows ... what a thing to say."

Crowe has been linked with a number of women since the split, including American rock singer Courtney Love and his former Australian sweetheart Danielle Spencer. 

"Russell is a total ladies' man who wants to play the field," Hyra said. 

"He is not interested in a committed relationship. As soon as he gets back to Australia he is off with some sexy blonde. He seems to just want to have fun."
- AAP

Meg starts life without Rusty
By NEIL MELLOY
A HEARTBROKEN Meg Ryan, above, is seeking solace in New York after being dumped by Russell Crowe. While the actress kept a low profile initially, she's expected to be seen more on the Manhattan club and party scene in the coming weeks.

The star is determined to put behind her the estrangement from husband Dennis Quaid and the break-up of her romance with short-tempered Crowe. She has been telling friends the size and pace of New York suit her right now. Back home in LA, people are constantly commiserating -- which she doesn't like.

In fact, she's coping just fine on her own. She hasn't started dating yet and has mostly restricted herself to going to small dinners with pals.

"She's not in mourning or anything like it," says one friend. "Give it a little while longer and Meg will be quite the girl-about-town."

Maybe someone should tell her loving dad, Harry Hyra, who has been ranting about the way Crowe treated her and the things he's been saying since their break-up.