By WYNNE GRAY
LILLE - A spell in quarantine had an up side for lock Dion Waller when he was called into the All Blacks yesterday as cover for several injured forwards.
Waller was the only New Zealand A player stricken by a bug in the team's first days in France.
An upset stomach was followed by flu symptoms and the Hurricanes lock was isolated from his team-mates for a while.
Left at the hotel when the team went to Lille for dinner, Waller was a despondent man, struggling with his health and the language.
However, his health improved overnight and so did his mood when he was told he would switch camps to the All Blacks.
Norm Maxwell and Troy Flavell were both hurt in the opening tour match, in Japan.
Maxwell was the greatest concern, with a groin injury, while Flavell damaged a leg.
With lineouts evidently still a problem, even in that festival match in Japan, cover was needed if the All Black locks failed to settle down.
And for now, the management have decided not to replace midfielder Jason O'Halloran, who played in Japan but then returned home to support his ill mother.
"We won't be making any replacement. We're hoping that he will join us again," team manager Andrew Martin said.
O'Halloran's departure has reduced the playing squad to 24, two short of the intended number, following prop Craig Dowd's pre-tour withdrawal and his replacement, Carl Hoeft, sustaining a calf injury before departure.
The All Black selectors and management decided not to call in a replacement prop as they could pick up a player, if needed, from the NZ A squad.
After the rest of the group arrived in France, the All Blacks were due to visit the Flanders' grave of Dave Gallaher, the All Black 1905 Originals' captain, in whose memory the Armistice Day test will be played in Paris this weekend.
The team were also due to travel to the ancient French town of Le Quesnoy, liberated by the New Zealand Rifle Brigade in late action in the First World War.
Whether that visit of remembrance will sooth the injured - and settle a squad who had just flown the day before from Japan - could be questioned.
Another visit probably held more intrigue.
That was the scouting expedition by NZ A coaches Robbie Deans and Steve Hansen to the Stade de France, where they watched the Wallabies beat France 18-13.
If the All Blacks were still awake at kickoff, the match might have sent them into snooze mode as Matt Burke kicked six penalties for the win.
They would have noticed France's lack of loose-forward speed, apart from the impressive Olivier Magne, and their early lineout wobbles.
Indiscipline was very costly for the home side, though Wallaby captain John Eales said it was a far cleaner match than the testy World Cup final.
The Tricolors' defence held throughout and for large parts of the game their forward power was evident.
And the Wallabies, in charge at 18-3 with 10 minutes remaining, just hung on after flanker George Smith was sinbinned for a high tackle.
It was then that the French lifted their game further, their passion bringing them close to a late victory.
The smile which flickered across Smith's face as he was sent to the sinbin by New Zealand referee Paul Honiss may have been about perceived injustice, nerves or even some slight satisfaction.
In the end, Smith suffered agonies as the French fought back and the cost of his indiscipline was reinforced.
But at fulltime, there was another trophy for the Wallaby cabinet, and the French were left to hope now for a third Armistice Day victory against the All Blacks to go with their 1977 and 1995 triumphs.
All Black SOS top tonic for ailing Waller
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