CARDIFF - The All Blacks have been learning French on this tour but will need a crash-course in another mother tongue to best disrupt the Welsh lineout in Sunday morning's rugby test here.
Nationalism was a theme today as Wales coach Gareth Jenkins confidently predicted the New Zealandplayers would have trouble deciphering his team's lineout calls.
"If they speak Welsh they'll have a chance," Jenkins said.
"Our calls over the last few months have actually been in Welsh so if they can get an interpreter in Wales to help them out, they might have a chance.
"Not many people speak Welsh in this world."
There can be little question about the heritage of this Welsh side, with five of the starting 15 and another in the reserves boasting that most ubiquitous of surnames here -- Jones.
There is also a good representation of the names that have littered Welsh rugby history -- Morgan, Williams, Thomas and Evans -- with New Zealand-born midfielder Sonny Parker standing out like a kumara in a leak patch.
However, it seems the "non-New Zealandness" of some of the All Blacks remains an issue with sections of the media here.
Writing in the Western Mail newspaper, Andy Howell noted that winger Sitiveni Sivivatu had been "enticed from Fiji" to play for New Zealand. He added that he and Samoan-born trio Mils Muliaina, Jerry Collins and Rodney So'oialo "have qualified for the Kiwis on residency grounds", ignoring the fact that the latter three all moved to New Zealand with their families when they were young children.
All Blacks coach Graham Henry was taken aback during his first press conference here when asked why the All Blacks don't play any tests in Tonga and Fiji.
He coolly responded that he was "just the lowly coach", suggesting the question be directed to higher authority.
