WITH a perfect sense of timing, today is a bank holiday in New Zealand.

THE one area of consistent performance from the unpredictable French has been the solidity of their set piece.

THE bigger the game, the smaller the margins and the fewer the chances: never was that more obvious that in Saturday’s Wales-France semi-final.

New Zealand captain Richie McCaw hailed his side’s intensity in their World Cup semi-final win over Australia, and called for a repeat in next week’s final.

MATCH-WINNING Australia flanker David Pocock has laughed off suggestions he is a cheat in the wake of his dominant World Cup performance against South Africa.

SONNY BILL WILLIAMS may have joked about replacing Dan Carter at fly-half, but he was deadly serious in vowing New Zealand would not abandon their attacking principles in pursuit of World Cup glory.

THERE was a nasty undertone to Ireland’s victory over the Wallabies last Saturday, if reports in the Antipodean media are to be believed.

THE All Blacks have praised Ireland for knocking the arrogance out of the Tri Nations sides following their victory over Australia on Saturday.

NEW ZEALAND coach Graham Henry praised an impressive showing by Sonny Bill Williams after the All Blacks romped to an 83-7 victory over Japan at Hamilton’s Waikato Stadium yesterday.

New Zealand coach Graham Henry praised an impressive showing by Sonny Bill Williams after the All Blacks romped to an 83-7 victory over Japan at Hamilton’s Waikato Stadium.

New Zealand 83 Japan 7

New Zealand 38 Japan 0

ABSOLUTELY sensational — and that was just the opening ceremony.

FIRST, something we expected — a New Zealand win.

New Zealand 41 Tonga 10

A number of New Zealand fringe players have been given their chance to impress along with a solid mix of experience for Friday’s World Cup opener against Tonga.

AT last, the waiting is over. The Rugby World Cup squads have been announced and the players can get down to the business of fine-tuning their games for the challenges ahead.

New Zealand coach Graham Henry has announced his 30-man squad for the Rugby World Cup with no place for quintet Sitiveni Sivivatu, Wyatt Crockett, Liam Messam, Jarrad Hoeata and Hosea Gear.

ANOTHER back-three speedster will miss the World Cup after it emerged Scotland wing Nikki Walker’s knee injury suffered against Italy on Saturday will rule him out of the tournament.

South Africa 18 New Zealand 5

A host of fringe players will get the chance to stake a final claim for a place in New Zealand’s World Cup squad after being named in the starting XV for Saturday’s Tri Nations clash with South Africa.

SOUTH AFRICA out-half Morne Steyn insists there will be no knee-jerk reaction to last week’s Tri Nations destruction at the hands of the All Blacks when the sides meet again in Wellington tomorrow (8.35am).

Injuries have forced the All Blacks to delay naming their team to play South Africa in the second Test of the Tri Nations in Wellington until Thursday morning.

Winger Zac Guildford and half-back Alby Mathewson have been called into the New Zealand squad as cover ahead of Saturday's second Tri Nations Test against South Africa in Wellington.

New Zealand coach Graham Henry claimed South Africa lock Bakkies Botha was lucky not to get banned for longer than nine weeks for headbutting halfback Jimmy Cowan in the All Blacks’ 32-12 Tri Nations triumph at Eden Park.

John Afoa, Corey Flynn, Liam Messam and Ma'a Nonu have been recalled to the New Zealand squad for the Tri-Nations series with Australia and South Africa.

New Zealand 29 Wales 10

New Zealand captain Richie McCaw is confident the wholesale changes to the team this week will not lead to a drop in standards in the second Test against Wales on Saturday.

Keven Mealamu is under no illusions that the Tri-Nations series will present far greater challenges for New Zealand than they have encountered against either Ireland or Wales so far this month.

NEW ZEALAND coach Graham Henry expects Wales to be breathing fire next weekend after being humbled 42-9 by the All Blacks in Dunedin on Saturday.

Wales centre Andrew Bishop has been ruled out of Saturday’s final Test match against New Zealand after breaking his hand during the 42-9 defeat to the All Blacks in Dunedin.

New Zealand 42 Wales 9

Israel Dagg, Benson Stanley and Ben Franks will make their New Zealand Test debuts against Ireland on Saturday after being named in a new-look starting line-up for the one-off match in New Plymouth.

NEW ZEALAND are almost certain to be without three of their first-choice players for the one-off Test against Ireland next week, assistant coach Wayne Smith has said.

NEW ZEALAND coach Graham Henry clearly has one eye on the future when naming rising stars Aaron Cruden, Israel Dagg and Victor Vito in his squad for Tests against Ireland and Wales next month.

New Zealand coach Graham Henry had one eye on the future when he named rising stars Aaron Cruden, Israel Dagg and Victor Vito in his squad for Tests against Ireland and Wales next month.

New Zealand have lost another midfield prospect for their upcoming Test matches against Ireland and Wales with Richard Kahui ruled out for three weeks with a rib cartilage injury.

Luke McAlister will be available for New Zealand’s end of year tour after an MRI scan on his injured ankle confirmed the damage was not as serious as first thought.

Tamati Ellison’s chances of making the New Zealand squad for the upcoming end of year tour have been given a big boost following Isaia Toeava’s latest stress fracture injury.

Stephen Donald will start at inside centre for New Zealand in Saturday’s Tri-Nations showdown with South Africa in Hamilton.

The absence of injured duo Luke McAlister and Conrad Smith has left New Zealand's coaches with a selection headache ahead of next month's Tri-Nations Tests against South Africa and Australia.

IN-FORM Bulls’ centre Wynand Olivier will be back to give the Waikato Chiefs an even harder time in the New Zealanders’ first Super 14 final in Pretoria tomorrow (Sky Sports Xtra, 4pm)

WYNAND OLIVIER has been named in the Bulls starting line-up for the Super 14 final against the Chiefs on Saturday, despite having yet to recover from a hip injury that kept him out of the semi-final last week.

New Zealand have recalled Conrad Smith for Saturday’s tour finale against England at Twickenham.