KEY POINTS:
LONDON - All Blacks captain Richie McCaw has told his players not to get hung up on the challenge of their short preparation time ahead of the rugby test against France in Lyon.
Following the tour-opening test against England at Twickenham tomorrow morning (NZT), New Zealand will have
just a six-day turnaround for the first of two tests against France, in Lyon on Sunday morning.
The buildup also includes an extra day of travel -- no small matter given the large size of their squad.
They fly from London to Marseille on Monday afternoon and spend three days in the southern coastal city before catching a train to Lyon on Thursday.
It will leave less chance for players involved in both the first two matches to rest and for the starting 15 for Lyon to work together.
"It'll be a bit tougher, you have to make sure you get your recovery right. The early part of a week is normally a bit lighter to make sure you're right by Saturday," McCaw said, before stressing the importance of not overstating the challenge.
"If you buy into it then you have excuses. That's something we've got to make sure we don't have.
"We do it (six-day turnaround) at Super 14 level reasonably regularly and there's the odd game there that's as physical as tests."
It is the All Blacks' tightest turnaround since the 2003 World Cup, when there were just five days between their semifinal loss to Australia and the 40-13 win over France in the playoff for third.
Both of those games were in Sydney and New Zealand fielded a near-identical team in each.
All Blacks coach Graham Henry has already indicated there will be significant personnel changes for the Lyon test.
He said most of the 32-man squad should have received game time after the first two tour tests before the strongest team are named for the second test against France in Paris on November 18 and the tour finale against Wales in Cardiff a week later.
Henry hoped injured Wellington prop Neemia Tialata, who was never going to be fit for the England test, will have recovered in time for the test in Lyon.
Tialata's progress at the start of this week had been slow but by Thursday he was running.
"It's touch and go whether he'll be in the 22 next week but it's a possibility," Henry said.
"I'd say the doc's reasonably positive about things -- probably about a 60-40 positive."
Meanwhile, McCaw said the giant, packed stadiums the team were playing at on this tour could only benefit his team looking ahead to next year's World Cup.
"It's going to be a good experience for us. A lot of our guys have been around for a while and have probably experienced those sort of things but you need every bit of experience you can get," he said.
"If we can store away a bit of knowledge of what it's like then I'm sure it's going to help you."
Twickenham, Stade de France in Paris and Cardiff's Millennium Stadium are among the biggest venues in the rugby world.
The exception is Lyon's Stade de Gerland, which holds up to 42,000.
It is being used for a rare test because the All Blacks will play a test there against a repechage opponent yet to be determined in their second World Cup pool match next year.
Their opening World Cup match is in Marseille, against Italy on September 8.
- NZPA
