All Blacks devise new tactics for French

Atlas - yeah, I'm in Island Bay looking out over Cook Strait. Up the hill a bit so didn't get the Strait lapping on the doorstep like some down the road....

Lads--If you know Raumati South beach....(just out of Wellington,Nic) we went out at the Jeep Rd ,Esplanade junction.Was bitterly cold,raining lightly and with an icy wind---and that was before we hit the water! I dived under and wasswept about ten metres north by the current,it almost literally took my breath away! Others in the party were screaming but mine was the silent protest. Nicoldschool; " only the brave/drunk/mad have a swim end of June "<<<--------We can narrow it down,'cause I wasn't drunk. Invigorating is one word we can use to describe it. ;-)

Too all talking about foreign players in the all blacks this is just rubbish crap the players concern gave their legions to the all blacks or the mana of the jersey and that speaks volume on their part, Their heritage will all ways stay with them no matter where they come from, poaching players this is the best team on this planet (A.B) we don't have too go down that lane WE LEAVE THAT TOO AUSTRALIAN RUGBY LEAGUE, by fleecing the Kiwi stocks.

NZ will win by a huge score. 47-12. Not good enough from 1 of the strongest teams on the planet in terms of depth of player talent. France are forever underperforming. Its not good enough Nick from the school of old.

Jerry, I used to live Island Bay then Owhiro Bay for another 4yrs - got sent pics of the coast, what a mess, swimming not recommended right now. I don't miss those gales. Also saw pics of New Plymouth's mid-winter swim 'The air temperature was 5C , the water was 10C, and the wind-chill factor was freezing. 230 people took part - the big turnout may have been due to the fact that tickets to the All Blacks test against France in New Plymouth were up for grabs' It's 14C now in NP dropping to 4C overnight. This is a big improvement over earlier forecast of 9 and 2C. I'm comfortable with the 32 and 25 (I'll cope! beer please!) Despite the series being won still demand for tickets Taranaki Daily News reported $40 terrace seats being offered at $175.

I'm on the South coast of Wgtn so a mid-winter dip isn't really an option unless I felt like being battered against the rocks!

England has Tuilagi, Barrett, Vunipola x2, Hartley and Corbisiero at least. Anyway there are no Samoan players (Samoan born or raised) playing for NZ at all. Not 1, so I think he needs a lesson in geography.

Wow very brave thing to do moaman! Only time I ventured in NZ waters was end of Jan this year when I was in welly (harbour-side not ocean tx!) and we got temperatures I had never had before, mid-late 20s and sun. was still fresh but great so I can only guess only the very brave/drunk/mad have a swim end of June :)! For the sake of test 3 interest and build up I think the ABs should have thrown either test 1 or 2! I will still happily take it as a nice appetiser before the main course.

As a general rule,it didn't even apply to NZ in the past.I can think of two players,Joeli Vidiri and Sitiveni Sivivatu. It has been done to death,and the stats are easy enough to get,but I believe it to be something like 30 odd players out of the 1100 approx ABs in that time. And the ultimate irony,a pom lecturing another country on using foreigners in their national sports teams (think cricket,athletics as two prime examples).

Oops, I kind of said the same as Atlas above. NZ has had its fair share of foriegn born players in the past but at the moment the only player who could be considered from another country is TKB and he was born to NZ parents and wanted to be an AB his whole life before opting to persue his dream at age 13 when he moved back to NZ. I would guess and say NZ has the least foriegn players in its squad in the entire top 10.

jus de couchon is English I think-definitely not French so don't blame them!

nickoldschool----You sound really despondant ;-( I can relate to that by virtue of being a cricket fan of NZ where we have plenty of down times...... I am a little bit concerned a tthe low-key buildup to tonight's clash...and the journos are already counting their chickens (coqs?) which I find disturbing.None of my mates have mentioned the game except en passant which means there is little or no sense of anticipation;disappointing when you consider the proud history of these clashes. On a brighter note--I just did something I have never done before and probably will never do again; I went for a mid-winter dip! Good thing was my friends' heated spa pool was only metres away from the frigid waters of the Tasman Sea we were ducking and diving in.Suffice to say we spent much longer in the spa than we did in the sea! Atlas; Yeah hopefully that England series will live up to it's billing and be exciting.I do like the retro feel of the 3-match series.Enjoy the games tonight,Gentlemen.

Vito and Nonu are from NZ. They are born and bred NZers with Island heritage. There was 2 players playing for NZ that were not born and raised there and that is B.Franks and TKB. B.Franks came to NZ before he was 1. France on the other hand has Vahaamahina, Nyanga, Ouedarogo, Dusatior, Nakaitaci, Claassen in the squad. Why do people throw stones from glass houses at reinforced saftey glass houses that are WC champions?

Sorry,I should have made that point clear.They are as you say,both NZers.

Tbh moaman I feel a bit deflated and am not optimistic at all (which means if I were you I would be very optimistic!! ). Series are lost anyway and we didn't learn anything we didn't know at test 2. Yeaterday, I read Dusautoir saying that they always had in the back of their mind that a 'hiding' was a possibility (well probability) against the ABs. Never good to have that in your mind before a game. The dilemma is: try to play their game and risk getting hammered like last week against the masters of counter attack or play a tighter game (rwc final like) but not show/try anything new. My big game of the day will be in Brisbane tbh.

3 match series - I see next year's England 3 match tour is their first ever to NZ. England have only played NZ in NZ 12x, tours a rarity Crusaders have got in with a bid to host a mid-week game v England; test venues not announced yet - I'd prefer to see a match v a touring side played away from the cities hosting the tests; while the Blues played France across the bridge in North Harbour it was still an Auckland game and they had the test there too - 2hrs to Hamilton/Chiefs was an option Crusaders lost 17-38 to Hurricanes in a non-competition match last night played in Levin, about 100km north of Wellington

The French team is tough to beat when there written off, they may be tired, but have made 8 changes so that could make a difference if there physicality. With some possible new talent in the French team that could spark the French in a late charge. With new scrum half Doussain and Remi Tales at fly half with only a few test caps could change the direction of the French attack or just as likely be engulfed by a Carter onslaught and huge pressure by the All Blacks who are keen to shut them out Weepu has a good opportunity to stamp is foot on Smith who has looked off his usually high standard, and I hope to see a big game from Victor Vito who needs to really smash up the defence and bust the line while putting in some big hits on French attacker. But the French have Dusautior who can make $h!t happen. There unpredictable and can turn anything around. All Blacks must dominate the whole game for the whole 80 min.

June 2010 and NZ played Ireland in New Plymouth - six players on debut that day Israel Dagg, Victor Vito, Ben Franks, Sam Whitelock (all playing today) plus Aaron Cruden, Benson Stanley Stanley started in tests the next 2 weekends but was never selected again (was he injured?) off to France and plays for Clermont. The other 5 were good choices, all now have over 20 test caps to their name 10 played that day and in today's team - Carter, Read, C Smith, Mealamu, O Franks, Weepu And a more polite response than it deserves for jus de couchon - there are two foreign-born players in this ABs 23 - both on the bench, Ben Franks and Tawera Kerr-Barlow were both born in Melbourne, Australia to NZ parents. 'just typical! poaching overseas talent!' And Richard, Ma'a Nonu and Victor Vito are both New Zealanders, Wellington-born, with Samoan ancestry.

I guess can say the ABs play better than a team with Samoans and african team, like their athletics, Football, rugby team? Colonisation of africa must of worked all right France to enable to poach as they will.

Don't let the Troll bug you guys.Ignore the comment and he will derive no satisfaction from posting it. Unsurprising that the ABs haven't swept a series against France 3-0 since 1968 really----since they haven't played any 3-match series! I'm looking forward to the game--I think the French will be just as competitive as in the first two matchups.Hope the weather allows for a decent game to be played.