MARSEILLE - Italy look like hedging their bets with a team of mixed strength against the All Blacks in Saturday's rugby World Cup clash here (Sunday NZ time).
Soon after touching down in Marseille, Italian coach Pierre Berbezier did his best to keep journalists guessing about the makeupof his side for the opening pool C match at Stade Velodrome.
The world No 9-ranked team are targeting a win over Scotland in their final pool game to complete their goal of advancing to the quarterfinals.
So their first three games, against New Zealand, Romania four days later and Portugal would be a chance to experiment for Berbezier.
"For sure the No 1 team will be against Scotland," he said.
"We've got three games to play in 11 days and then after the three games we will see what kind of team we can line out against Scotland.
"New Zealand and Romania are very close to each other so we have to manage how we put the team together."
His side was to be named on Friday and Berbezier - the former French captain and then coach - said it would be an honour for whoever got the nod.
"For the last three years the All Blacks have been by far the best team in the world. It is like a myth for us."
Italy captain Marco Bortolami said his team took confidence out of their fourth placing in this year's Six Nations and the recent 20-23 loss to Ireland in Belfast.
"We are starting the World Cup with a very good run behind us," he said.
"There is no reason why we shouldn't consider the Italian team for the quarterfinal, we are very clear that that is our goal."
Bortolami, who All Black Ali Williams this week described as one of the world's premier locks, said his team would need the right mental approach if they were to push New Zealand.
"We're perfectly aware that they are the favourites for the World Cup but there are areas like the scrum and the lineout where we can perform and we'll focus on all these facets without worrying too much about who is in front of us," he said.
"If we can keep our strong defence and keep hold of the ball, it might be an interesting game. That's what we managed to do against Ireland."
