Rugby: 'Home' is many places for Kiwi-born Samoan French international Uini Atonio

Uini Atonio promises a tough game against the All Blacks.

Ask French international Uini Atonio where home is and the Timaru-born prop hedges his bets.

"It depends, because I've got my family back in New Zealand but now I've started my own family in France," said the 28-year-old father of one.

"I don't know if I'll ever come back (to New Zealand), but for the moment it's half and half," Atonio said at a briefing at the team's hotel in Auckland today.

Atonio, who has spent the past 10 years playing for Top14 side Stade Rochelais from the west coast port of La Rochelle, is not the only Kiwi who took a French passport to play international rugby.

Tony Marsh, coincidentally another former Counties Manukau player, picked up 21 caps for France between 2001 and 2004. A third Kiwi, Legi Matiu played two tests for France in 2000, during a long career at French club sides.

Atonio, who went to Wesley College and played for the school's 1st XV, also represented Samoa Under 20s at the 2009 IRB Junior World Championships. He earned French citizenship after three years at La Rochelle

Atonio has run out against the All Blacks before, in France. This Saturday at Mt Eden will be the first time on New Zealand soil.

"It's going to be tough, especially with all my friends and family coming to the game," he said . But he's excited to be facing "the best side in the world".

"The All Blacks are beatable," he said. "They are a great team, they are the best ... it's going to be tough and if we want to beat them, we have to be 100 per cent in the scrum, the lineout, everywhere ... even off the field."

Atonio said the French side would be very competitive. "We've come out of a Six nations which was tough; we lost a couple of games slightly by two or three points, which we thought was harsh for us, but we're prepared, we're not looking too much at what they're doing - we just want to focus on what we want to do.

"We've got a good bunch of boys here and we're prepared for the first game."

Atonio is a big man. The BBC named the 145kg, 197cm prop the biggest player at the 2015 World Cup. He speaks English with a strong Kiwi accent, but his French is faultless to the point that native French speakers can't detect his Kiwi origins.

While Atonio is a seasoned professional, a fellow team mate at today's presentation, Felix Lambey, is in New Zealand waiting to hear if he'll get his first call up to the national side on Saturday.

The 23-year-old lock said that to play against the All Blacks was the Holy Grail of rugby.

"We are not afraid to play against them." he said. "We have the motivation and will be doing something new, very fresh."