All Blacks coach Ian Foster seems intent on fielding his best available line-up for the final Rugby World Cup warm-up outing against South Africa at Twickenham.
The national team has flown out of Auckland, bound for London, where they will put the finishing touches to preparation for the global tournament in France.
Before they take on the host side in the opening game at Paris on September 9 (NZ time), the All Blacks face a tricky fixture against the reigning champions, still smarting from their Rugby Championship defeat at Mt Smart last month.
Rather than protect his frontline players, Foster insists he will treat the game like any other test, with winning momentum into the World Cup at stake.
"I'm not nervous at all, I'm excited," he said. "I'm nervous from a performance perspective, but you don't go into test matches worrying about who's going to get injured.
"You go into test matches preparing to win and we've got to be at 100 percent. We want to go into a World Cup where we've put ourselves under pressure and if you go into a game with your mind half somewhere else, that's when you are in danger.
"For us, it's a big test. We want to go in there and play well, and go into that French game with a lot of confidence."
The All Blacks are currently riding an 11-game unbeaten streak that dates back to the historic home loss to Argentina last August, and includes two Rugby Championship crowns and retention of the Bledisloe Cup.
Their run is second only to world No.1 Ireland, who have won 12 straight, since losing to France in the 2022 Six Nations.
Foster is already without injured veteran lock Brodie Retallick and probably blindside kingpin Shannon Frizell against the Springboks next Saturday, while others - like midfielder David Havili, winger Emoni Narawa and prop Fletcher Newell - will need a run, after long stints on the sideline.
"I won't be protecting anyone," said Foster. "If we've got people who have a slight ding, they won't play, but there will be no sentiment about putting people in cotton wool.
"You don't win World Cups by putting people in cotton wool."
