One of the big battles of the weekend. With these two teams it is always about heart and soul, guts and glory. Will the All Blacks manage to overcome their bogey team, France?

Graham Henry still seems unsure what exactly his best team is, a couple of changes were made from the team which dispatched England.

The All Blacks will be All Whites when they face France, donning their white strip this Saturday.

The All Blacks are always a tough nut to crack, whether they are going through a difficult patch, as appears to be the case now, or whether they are on top of the world.

France on the other hand has played stirring rugby, beating the Springboks and also demolishing Samoa. France has also made a number of changes but one senses that they have depth in all positions.

They field a strong pack of forwards and has a backline which can easily run riot when given the opportunity.

This is a difficult game to predict… but I’m going to venture a prediction… All Blacks by a whisper and a splutter… by 7 or less.

Recent results:
2009: New Zealand won 14-10, Wellington
2009: France won 27-22, Dunedin
2007: France won 20-18, Cardiff (World Cup)
2007: New Zealand won 61-10, Wellington
2007: New Zealand won 42-11, Auckland
2006: New Zealand won 23-11, Paris
2006: New Zealand won 47-3, Lyon
2004: New Zealand won 45-6, Paris
2003: New Zealand won 40-13, Sydney (World Cup)
2003: New Zealand won 31-23, Christchurch

Teams:

France: 15 Damien Traille, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 David Marty, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Maxime Médard, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Julien Dupuy, 8 Julien Bonnaire, 7 Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5 Romain Millo-Chluski, 4 Sébastien Chabal, 3 Sylvain Marconnet, 2 William Servat, 1 Fabien Barcella.
Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Nicolas Mas, 18 Lionel Nallet, 19 Julien Puricelli, 20 Morgan Parra, 21 Yann David, 22 Cédric Heymans.

New Zealand: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Corey Flynn, 17 Owen Franks, 18 Anthony Boric, 19 Tanerau Latimer, 20 Andy Ellis, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Luke McAlister.

Date: Saturday, November 28
Venue: Stade Vélodrome, Marseilles
Kick-off: 20.45 (19.45 GMT, 08.45 NZ time, November 29)
Expected weather: Clear skies to partly cloudy, with a high of 15°C (59°F)
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees: George Clancy (Ireland), Simon McDowell (Ireland)
TMO: Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)