It is still early in the week but this callow New Zealand touring team have already routed their hosts where it hurts most. There are those who will tell you that winning the public relations battle is now as important as scoring traditional mud-spattered victories on a Saturday afternoon, and yesterday in Richmond the All Blacks played an absolute blinder.
To drive past the Athletic Ground yesterday was to wonder if David Beckham had popped in for a modelling assignment or S Club 7 were shooting their latest video. Even when the All Blacks go training a buzz sweeps the neighbourhood, and half the schools in south-west London appeared to have given their pupils the afternoon off.
There were also a good number of expats in the 2,500 crowd but when the players trotted out to start their session the shrill greeting from the stand was reminiscent of those bygone women's hockey internationals at Wembley.
It was certainly a sizeable tribute to the enduring mystique of New Zealand rugby and proof that the sport's best-known brand name remains bigger than the individuals who represent it. With 21 of their main men left at home there are numerous unfamiliar faces staring out from the pages of the tour media guide and when a photographer asked for help in identifying Taine Randell, the squad's captain, the scale of ignorance became even clearer.
Randell, though, was not born yesterday and, with Jonah Lomu out of bounds to the media to allow the big wing "to concentrate on his game", he wasted no time stoking the fire started by his fly- half Andrew Mehrtens, who said prior to the squad's departure that nothing motivates Kiwis more than the threat of being beaten by a gloating England. "They are horrible to lose to and we found them even painful to draw with in 1997," Mehrtens insisted. "There's no lack of motivation."
Was this a widespread feeling in the All Black camp, the assembled journalists asked? "Mehrts does say some fine things," chuckled Randell, "and that was very accurate."
It is three years and 15 games since anyone beat England on their home turf but, since New Zealand were the last side to win at Twickenham and have not visited subsequently, Randell argues that his team are not exactly quaking.
"I don't think our guys will be too concerned. We've played at some very intimidating rugby grounds around the world. But we're under no illusions. England's form has been very good and we'll be the underdogs."
Was he worried about the big pack England have chosen? "They never go for a small one, do they?"
For someone who had just stepped off the plane, 48 hours later than his colleagues, after being given leave to attend his own wedding at the weekend, Randell was also disappointingly word-perfect when it came to the issue of whether the All Blacks coach John Mitchell's inside knowledge of the England camp from his days as forwards coach might lend an advantage.
"If I was to tell you that I'd get into a lot of trouble. He knows a lot about them but there are a lot of videos out there and not much of what you do is a secret. We've just got to find something to substitute for our lack of experience." And with that he was off to shower and change before getting back out on the field for the mother of all autograph sessions.
England, in contrast, remain reluctant for even the tamest journalists, let alone the public, to watch their sessions for more than a few minutes. That may change when their sponsor O2 sees what mileage Adidas gained out of yesterday's exercise, and the smiles on the faces of Christian Cullen and Tana Umaga suggested the players have no problem with it either.
Tonight at the Walkabout bar in Shepherd's Bush should also be fun, with the All Black icons Zinzan Brooke, Josh Kronfeld, Colin Meads and Craig Dowd taking part in a Q&A evening in aid of Jarrod Cunningham's Salsa Foundation, set up after Cunningham's diagnosis with motor neurone disease. The PR battle has already been won.
