KEY POINTS:
The All Blacks want to win the hearts of the French public at the World Cup by making the team available for community projects.
In 2003, the All Blacks were heavily criticised for cocooning themselves in Melbourne for the duration of the competition and spurning offers to conduct coaching clinics and engage with the people of Victoria.
But All Black manager Darren Shand says the team has already been inundated with offers to interact with the French rugby community and that players will be encouraged to partake in various initiatives.
"Obviously our focus is on making sure the preparation is as good as it can be and we have to get that right," said Shand. "But we have received a lot of offers in the last few weeks and we will work through those to see what will be possible."
The All Blacks will not sign up for anything too onerous given their determination to win the World Cup.
But Shand said the team is aware the city of Marseilles, where they will be based in the opening weeks, has spent heavily on training facilities to attract the All Blacks.
Already there are posters across the city declaring support for New Zealand and having made the All Blacks welcome on last year's end of season tour, Shand says the squad would like to repay their hosts for extending the hand of friendship.
What form of activity the All Blacks get involved in is yet to be decided but traditionally teams are asked to send players to local clubs and schools to host coaching sessions.
Some teams in the past have conducted open training sessions but while the people of Marseilles would love to watch the All Blacks practise, Shand said the nature of modern rugby makes closed door workouts imperative.
The willingness to present a friendlier, more accessible public face is also being driven by a desire to give the players meaningful distractions.
Shand and the coaching team are aware that the players can become mentally stale and emotionally drained by the test match experience.
Some players complained of boredom at the last World Cup, when they stayed in the same place for the majority of the competition. This time, the All Black itinerary will involve greater movement and exposure to various locations.
"We like to change the environment and move around," said Shand. "Putting the players in different hotels can keep things a bit fresher and new. We have nailed down the building blocks in terms of logistics. We are pretty comfortable with what is in place in terms of where we are sleeping, how we are getting from A to B.
"The conditioning window has also been helpful in keeping the players fresh, as it gave them an extended off-season where they were out of the environment and their commitments were far less than they normally are."
Shand also said that a number of Canterbury-based All Blacks are continuing to take weekly French lessons to help them overcome the language barrier and lessen the stress of being in a non-English speaking country.
