The All Blacks will hit town tomorrow, well ahead of France which is flying in late and will not even have a full training run in the city.
The All Blacks will assemble in Dunedin tomorrow night and have two public engagements planned, but will not have a public training session.
The squad will start training in earnest on Monday for the opening test of the season against the French at Carisbrook next Saturday night.
More than half the squad will be at the Wall Street mall on Tuesday at 5.15pm for a public appearance while at the same time some All Blacks will be at a club rippa rugby tournament at the Edgar Centre.
The All Blacks have decided not to have a public training session. They believe there is no point, with other public commitments and children at school while the side is training.
They did not have a public training session in the city last year when preparing to play the Springboks.
The All Blacks will be training at the University Oval throughout the week, weather permitting, and will also have a captain's run at Carisbrook on Friday.
The French are basing themselves in Auckland until Thursday when they fly down to Dunedin. They will rest, rather than train, after arriving on Thursday and then have a brief captain's run at Carisbrook on Friday afternoon.
The All Blacks will train throughout the week except for Wednesday when they will have the day off.
The players had a three-day camp in Auckland before going their separate ways yesterday afternoon.
The test in Dunedin will be the first of 15 for the All Blacks this year, with the two teams meeting again in Wellington on June 20.
As of yesterday about 1100 tickets remained for the test, with more than 220 sold yesterday.
The lower Octagon will be closed for most of next weekend for festivities while George St, between Frederick St and Hanover St, will be closed on Saturday night.
