Buck Shelford: All Blacks should not be fooled by this B-team smokescreen

The first job for the All Blacks going into tomorrow night's big Pool A match is to ignore the hoo-ha about this being a French B team.

The All Blacks have to make a statement this time because they don't have any significant matches left before the finals.

I believe they will win by 40 points. France have not won at Eden Park for a long time and our record against them is very good, although we all know what has happened in the World Cups.

I don't know what the French are up to, except to say that many teams have been fiddling around with their lineups. I certainly wouldn't trust whatever they are saying about this game, but I'm not sure that the claims about this being a B team are correct anyway.

It's unlikely that they targeted this match as a win, no matter which team they put out. But as we all know, strange things can happen in World Cups.

The players that go out there will not want to lie down. They also have positions to play for. Marc Lievremont, the French coach, is placing trust in the depth of his squad, just as other coaches have.

From the All Blacks' perspective, they need to concentrate on their plans and the attitude has to be ruthless. Nothing else will do. Teams such as England are lying in wait and we haven't seen the best of them yet.

I include Australia in this category - and be certain, they will bounce back. Robbie Deans has been around a long time, he is a cagey man, and he will be pulling out all his tricks after that awful performance against Ireland. Deans will be reading his forwards the riot act and they will respond.

The one big injury concern for the All Blacks at the moment is Kieran Read, but from what I hear he has been running around this week and is expected to play in the final pool game against Canada. Richie McCaw has made impressive returns after injury breaks and there's no reason why Read won't do the same. He just has to, pure and simple.

As for the tournament, it is a remarkable success so far to the point that I believe we may indeed host the World Cup again. The IRB will take the big money options for sure, but perhaps in 20 years or so the tournament will return to our shores.

Players and fans love the experience here because, unlike Europe, the World Cup does not get lost in the sprawl of massive cities.

Ticket sales are rising, there have been great turnouts, and the enjoyment factor is something that will have left a mark with the IRB.