French loosies the best, says McCaw

PARIS - Richie McCaw is relishing his first tangle with France's world class loose forwards here on Saturday -- a trio the All Blacks flanker says set the benchmark in world rugby.

Openside McCaw, rated by many the best current loose forward in the game, said French Number 8 Imanol Harinordoquy and flankers Olivier Magne and Serge Betsen have had no peer as a group in recent years.

Magne, who will play his 80th test at Stade de France, leads them splendidly, said McCaw, who had been working hard this week on observing the French style in the loose with team-mates Jerry Collins and Rodney So'oialo.

"Olivier Magne was the only guy you ever saw outplay (former All Blacks openside) Josh Kronfeld consistently and then those two other fellas have been right up there the last couple of years," McCaw said.

"The three of them together is going to really test us.

"But what a great challenge for us and I'm looking forward to it, as are Rodney and Jerry. It's going to be great for us."

The French trio have been missing in the last two tests against New Zealand.

Only Harinordoquy was there when an understrength France went down 23-31 in Christchurch last year while all three missed out on the starting 15 in their limp 13-40 loss in the World Cup third place play-off at Sydney.

McCaw said the All Blacks had taken longer to recover from last weekend's tight 25-26 loss to Wales than most tests.

It was nothing to do with having reached the end of a long season, he said, adding that his team-mates were raring to finish the year on a bright note.

"It's going to really measure where we're at. I'm sure the guys are looking forward to seeing where we're at because to win on Saturday we're going to have to dominate up front.

"That's a hell of a challenge against these guys but it's something that everyone can't wait to get into."

Collins said he was looking forward to being on the same field as good Wellington friend So'oialo.

"Rodders and I have played together for a very long time but never together in a test," Collins said.

"Over the years we've swapped positions a lot. I think this is where we both want to be."

McCaw suspected the Christchurch and Sydney tests hadn't given him a true indication of what to expect here.

A better pointer was France's dominant 27-14 defeat of Australia two weeks ago.

"Watching them on TV against the Aussies, they were relentless. They always say playing them in France is different to playing them elsewhere," McCaw said.

The French have since suffered a setback with their shock 14-24 shock loss to Argentina in Marseille and had another problem to contend with when first five-eighth Frederic Michalak was switched back to his former position of halfback today.

The change was forced by injuries to first and second choice halfbacks Jean-Baptise Elissalde and Dimitri Yachvili which ruled them out.

Julien Peyrelongue, who has played five tests, will start at first five-eighth, with Agen halfback Mathieu Barrau coming onto the bench.

The sun was out once again in Paris today but the temperature was cold and ground frosty for the All Blacks' last full training before the test.

It was a sharp, bright session, with management pleased lock Norm Maxwell could run fully after being forced to watch on with a stiff back 24 hours earlier.

- NZPA