We'll be there in strength, France promises NZ and the IRB

Fears that France would send a C team to New Zealand next year have been allayed by clear-the-air talks involving both national unions and the International Rugby Board.

The New Zealand union has confirmed that reports claiming French coach Bernard Laporte would leave up to 30 of his best players in France to prepare for the World Cup are wrong.

Some leading players were likely to be missing, depending on which clubs made the French club finals, which were immediately before the two-test tour, NZRU chief executive Chris Moller said yesterday.

"But they expect at least 20, if not slightly more, of their top players will come to New Zealand."

Moller said no pressure from the International Rugby Board or the NZRU had been put on the French to pick their top players.

He understands a message will be given to the French players that the New Zealand tour is their final chance to press for World Cup squad inclusion.

This will give an incentive to avoid a repetition of the 1999 test in Wellington a few months before that year's World Cup, when an uninterested France conceded 54 points at Athletic Park.

The NZRU is still working on tying up a third early-season test. The opponent is likely to come from the tier-two nations, which include countries such as Canada, the Pacific Islands nations, the United States and Romania.