The All Blacks put a halt yesterday to a week of mud-slinging about a sub-standard French rugby side as they switched their focus to lifting their own performance in the second Test today.
Coach Graham Henry has faced up to the All Blacks' own slipshod effort in last week's 42-11 demolition of the French, and will field a sterner looking forward pack in the search for a more comprehensive display.
"We need to step up from last week, we'd like to play better as a team," Henry said, while captain Richie McCaw described last week's effort as "flat" and said what was good enough then will not be good enough now.
France, meanwhile, have been fired up on two fronts.
They want to prove they are a better outfit than that which copped withering criticism from Henry following the first Test.
It is also their last chance to impress selectors before the French World Cup squad is named next week, factors not lost on Henry who is expecting a more determined effort from France.
"I think the French boys will play exceptionally well at the weekend. I think that'll help the game," he said.
Henry angered the French with accusations of deliberate time-wasting and not fully contesting the scrums in the first Test.
French coach Bernard Laporte fired back that the All Blacks had shown a lack of respect to France, and denied his players faked injuries.
But the All Blacks mentor backtracked yesterday, claiming he was making a general statement about the state of the game and Laporte had taken it too personally.
Laporte said his forwards faced a tough task against a bigger All Blacks pack.
"Some things can't be repaired. There are things you can't do because if you are 15kg lighter, you simply get smashed," he said.
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