Henry takes no chances for opener

New Zealand are in no mood to pussyfoot their way into the World Cup, and having noted sombrely the words of warning from the sheriffs of the International Rugby Board, they will hit Italy with almost everything they have got here on Saturday. The good news for those who like their rugby at full throttle is that the Italians are also in Ferrari mode rather than Fiat Cinquecento.

"This is pretty much our top XV," said Graham Henry, the New Zealand head coach, as he named a team designed to hammer down the favourites' marker. And although the Italians are not revealing their line-up until today their captain, Marco Bortolami, last night debunked the popular theory that their first-choice XV would be spared a possible All Black roadkill at the Stade Vélodrome.

"It would be an opportunity to do that," said Bortolami, "but I think we are going to play our strongest team. I've played three games in 10 days in the past and the worst one was the third one." Italy have to follow up against Romania only four days after the All Blacks, then it is Portugal on 19 September, so they can probably manage. Their fourth and last match in the pool is the crucial one against Scotland.

Considering New Zealand have put 521 points on the Italians in eight previous meetings, no Azzurri side is likely to faze Henry, yet he praised the opposition to the Mediterranean skies. "Italy should have beaten Ireland recently [in Belfast] and they have progressed a huge amount as a rugby-playing country," Henry said. "We respect them and we are in for a hard game. We'll have to play to the maximum to subdue them." The All Blacks handed Conrad Smith an immediate chance to prove his fitness after an injury-disrupted few months; the Wellington centre – a successor for both province and country to the great Tana Umaga – pairs up with Luke McAlister outside the first-choice half-backs, Byron Kelleher and Dan Carter. Only Keith Robinson, the lock who has a dodgy calf, was unavailable for selection.

At hooker the agile Keven Mealamu got the nod ahead of Anton Oliver, which suggests the Italians are in for a prolonged runaround. "You don't put your eggs all in one basket of attack but you've got to score tries," said Henry. "To win the World Cup you need to be the best team and to get the bounce of the ball, I guess." Mindful perhaps that the more you agitate, the more bounces you get, Henry has negotiated with the powers-that-be for "common sense" access to water for the early afternoon kick-off.

Other All Black ploys include encrypting the coaches' radio messages to the touchline and players training with a patch over one eye to improve " depth of perception". We will see how far Italy are prepared to test their strength in depth.

New Zealand: M Muliaina (Waikato); D Howlett (Auckland), C Smith (Wellington), L McAlister (North Harbour), S Sivivatu (Waikato); D Carter (Canterbury), B Kelleher (Waikato); T Woodcock (North Harbour), K Mealamu (Auckland), C Hayman (Otago), C Jack (Tasman), A Williams (Auckland), J Collins (Wellington), R McCaw (Canterbury, capt), R So'oialo (Wellington). Replacements: A Oliver (Otago), N Tialata (Wellington), R Thorne (Canterbury), S Lauaki (Waikato), B Leonard (Waikato), A Mauger (Canterbury), L MacDonald (Canterbury)

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