New Zealand players learning French: New Zealand are so desperate to end two decades of World Cup failure that the All Blacks are learning French to ease the pressure on the squad at next year's tournament.

The All Black management are using their current European tour as a dress rehearsal for the 2007 competition and are keen to ensure their players are au fait with French culture, conversation and cuisine before they begin their quest to win the Webb Ellis Trophy for the first time since 1987, when they hosted the event.

"We'll certainly be making an effort to teach them French because we think it's important," said the All Black manager Darren Shand. "We want to make sure our guys can cope with spending 53 days in France in an environment which is completely different from, say, New Plymouth."

One or two England players, including Jonny Wilkinson, have learned French privately but this is the first time a touring team have turned to language lessons in an attempt to improve results.

The Kiwis openly admit they were too insular in 2003, when the squad were almost exclusively based in the largely rugby-free zone of Melbourne.

"A lot of it is down to attitude," said Shand. "You can bring elements of home to France but, at the end of the day, you've got to take your surroundings into account."

Any suggestion that England will face a weak side at Twickenham on Sunday was further eroded yesterday with the news that Dan Carter is almost certain to start after the New Zealand medical team conceded they were "sceptical" that Nick Evans's hamstring injury would allow the 26-year-old to play.

However, the All Blacks are so keen that as many of their 32-strong squad play as soon as possible that they will give Evans until today to show some improvement and could wait until tomorrow before ruling him out.

Evans, who made his debut against England at Dunedin in 2004, has six caps and is coming back from a serious shoulder injury suffered during the Super 14 season.