All Black in dark over Kiwi-born opposite

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All Blacks prop Owen Franks shows off an eye injured at training ahead of the test against England at Twickenham.

All Blacks prop Owen Franks holds an ice pack to an injured eye during training in London ahead of the test against England at Twickenham.

All Blacks hooker Corey Flynn cuts a dejected figure as he stands sideline, with ice on an injured hamstring, at a training run ahead of the test against England at Twickenham.

Replacement hooker Aled de Melmanche prepares for lineout practice ahead of the test against England at Twickenham.

All Blacks John Afoa, Aled de Melmanche and Tony Woodcock grip it up for scrum machine work ahead of the test against England at Twickenham.

All Blacks captain Richie McCaw poses for a photograph with a fan at a store in London.

All Blacks Corey Flynn, Jerome Kaino, Stephen Donald and Conrad Smith hard at work at an adidas promotion in London.

Fans queue in London outside a shop where the All Blacks were for an adidas autograph session.

All Blacks coaches Wayne Smith, Graham Henry and Steve Hansen answer questions during a press conference after the team to play England was named.

The All Blacks watch some tele at a training session in west London.

Owen Franks pictured at a recovery session in West London.

IRB referees' boss Paddy O'Brien visits the All Blacks' training session in west London.

NZRU boss Steve Tew visits the All Blacks' training session in west London.

Brad Thorn and Wyatt Crockett pictured with the team masseuse.

Andrew Hore during an All Blacks' training session in west London.

Richie McCaw during an All Blacks' training session in west London.

Dan Carter during an All Blacks' training session in west London.

Ma'a Nonu and Neemia Tialata prepare for training in West London.

Sitiveni Sivivatu in front of a phone box.

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If Andrew Hore has any concerns about his Kiwi opposite lurking in the heart of the England forward pack, the rugged Taranaki hooker was doing a pretty good job of hiding it.

Just a couple of days out from the test against England at Twickenham, Hore admitted he was in the dark over former Rotorua Boys' High standout Dylan Hartley who retains his place at No 2 to face the country of his birth for the first time in his career.

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And, frankly, that's the way this 31-year-old, 45-test hard man prefers it.

Asked at today's media session at the team hotel what he had seen of Hartley, Hore stunned the probing scribes when he replied: "Not a lot. I'm not real big on watching what other players do. I worry about my own game, and if you start thinking about what they're up to you get lost in what you're supposed to be doing."

Simple approach from a simple man. No frills. Straight down the middle. Just like the Hore game.

"Personally I don't do a lot (of study), maybe just some on throwing style and if they've got any triggers to look at for lineouts. But other than that, I look to get my own backyard sorted and go from there."

Speaking of backyards, Hore is a little worried about his in the Maniototo.

A query about whether he was concerned there might be some rain at Twickenham on Saturday met a classic Hore response: "I wouldn't mind a bit of rain back on the farm, to be honest. It's pretty dry back there. But I haven't worried too much about what's happening here."

The guy certainly keeps things pretty real. And after a mid-season wobble or two he also seems to have his game right back on track. His lineout throwing has been top-class for the past four tests and his strong-arm work at the breakdown, and in the maul, remains a key facet of the All Black game.

He's also playing 80-minute rugby these days – in four of his last five tests he's gone the distance – which might be a good thing seeing as late arrival Aled de Malmanche seems set to be his backup.

De Malmanche was whistled up from a holiday in Bali to cover for Corey Flynn when the Cantab strained his hamstring on Monday, and Graham Henry admitted after bracketing the two on the bench he was resigned to Flynn missing this test.

"Mega's been with us for most of the Tri-Nations and knows the system, so if he needs to come on I'd say he'd be pretty keen to do the job," said Hore.

But just in case the 'Naki hooker has no qualms about another 80, which Henry pointed out a day earlier was helpful from a lineout perspective in allowing a certain "rhythm" to be retained.

"I'm happy to play 80 if I'm playing all right," shrugged Hore, no doubt still more worried about his dry fields back on the farm than anything confronting him at Twickenham,

"It's been working all right in the lineout where we've been going pretty good the last four games. You get into a rhythm and used to the jumpers, so that has helped."

Hore was also fairly direct on the subject of the backdrop to this test against England which has seen a fairly constant stream of criticism of the home team from their press.

"I don't think the media has done the All Blacks any favours by ripping into them," said Hore. "They will be pretty keen to put in a good performance. It will be like most other times we've played them – they're a physical side, with a scrum-lineout that goes well and they hurt you around ruck and maul time.

"It's going to be a good old battle."

Hore also notes the presence of the likes of Simon Shaw and Joe Worsley back in the English pack, and figures they'll add a "harder edge" to an already bruising eight.

"They've struggled a bit but I'm pretty sure it's going to be different this weekend," said Hore. "It will be a great game at Twickenham if we get a bit of ball and have a bit of fun."

From a personal perspective Hore says the long year hasn't taken too much of a toll on him and he has plenty of gas in the tank to finish it strongly. They key, he reckons, is not to think about summer until that last game of the tour has been tucked under the belt.

Now if it would just rain in the Maniototo...

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