MARSEILLE - Those All Blacks who like their breakfast are in for a treat over the next fortnight, but not those who enjoy a good sleep-in.
The early afternoon start for this Saturday's rugby World Cup pool clash against Italy here will be repeated a week later whenthey face Portugal in Lyon.
It means players who have become accustomed to the evening kickoffs that dominate the modern game will need to adjust significantly.
A team meeting addressed how to best handle the hours leading up to the 1.45pm (11.45pm NZ time) kickoff.
It will entail rising before 7am and polishing off two morning meals, at about 7am and 9am.
It is a morning routine the players will look to adopt each day so their bodies adjust and was endorsed by hooker Anton Oliver.
"It's great just to get out of your bed and effectively run out on the pitch and get into it," Oliver said.
"We haven't played that early for so long, it's like a pre-season game for an under-19 side."
Oliver remembers playing in one of the first first class games under lights in New Zealand in the early 1990s and said waiting around all day burning up emotional energy had become a frustrating part of modern rugby.
Oliver was gradually getting used to the early spring heat of Marseille.
He reckoned he had the biggest adjustment to make of any All Black for this trip.
"I just left home in Central Otago, it was minus eight (degC)," he said.
"The diesel was starting to freeze up in my car, and I've turned up here in Marseille and I'm just dripping in sweat."
