KEY POINTS:
The All Blacks yesterday looked to have lost one battle in the leadup to Sunday's quarter-final against France but are doing everything they can to stop anyone else gaining an edge.
As the New Zealand Rugby Union revealed the All Blacks were on espionage alert, team manager Darren Shand lost a coin toss over who has to play in their alternate strip on Sunday.
That means France get to wear their first choice dark blue jersey in Cardiff, although the IRB was still determining whether a change of strip was required by New Zealand.
Trying to avoid the clash of similar outfits that marred the recent pool game against Scotland, organisers were considering which New Zealand jersey looked least like the deep dark blue strip France have adopted for this tournament.
Meanwhile, the NZRU is understood to have received advice about the dangers of being "bugged" in France in the tournament's latter stages. One source with extensive business and sporting connections in France said that caution could be downgraded because the hosts were meeting the All Blacks outside France.
"It is not so dangerous for them now they are meeting in Cardiff but they should not be relaxed either because of what the DGSE [secret service] can do."
New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Chris Moller said security was a team priority but he was careful not to identify specific concerns or what had been done on the counter-espionage front.
"I don't want to comment on sweeping hotels for bugs other than to say we are taking all the appropriate security measures," he said.
"It does not guarantee our places are clean but we have been very conscious of what can happen. We are not pointing the finger here at France either. There are many people who would like to see us fail.
"Nothing has been overlooked, you can rest assured of that."
The All Blacks have had 24-hour protection by the elite Raid police force, who joined them more than a month ago in Corsica.
A source told the Herald that French attempts to unsettle the All Blacks started when they changed the colour of their national jersey to create a clash.
"They reasoned that the All Blacks would be emasculated if they did the haka in their silver jersey. It shows the obsession the French have with trying to find any way of unsettling the All Blacks."
