The All Blacks have named the most experienced team in their history to play France with the most well-drilled front row in world rugby featuring two centurions in Tony Woodcock and Keven Mealamu and half-centurion, Owen Franks.
This of course was the same front row that featured in the Rugby World Cup Final against France, backed up by the equally experienced Andrew Hore off the bench.
Woodcock is surely the greatest prop in All Black history - his longevity and steadiness in the scrums as well as his ball handling abilities very much earn him that accolade ahead of the likes of Sir Wilson Whineray, Craig Dowd, Olo Brown, Carl Hayman, etc.
So is this the greatest front row in world rugby ever? Here's a look at several other great front rows in world rugby.
Trevor Woodman-Steve Thompson-Phil Vickery (ENGLAND)
One of the great front rows ever to feature in world rugby and one which totally destroyed the others en route to Grand Slam and World Cup success in 2003. Of course it was backed up by having the likes of Martin Johnson, Neil Back and Lawrence Dallaglio pushing the scrum but this was the spine of that great England forward pack - with former record holder, Jason Leonard coming off the bench to make this one of the great scrums in world rugby.
Os du Randt-John Smit-CJ van der Linde (SOUTH AFRICA)
The Springboks have always produced great scrummagers but this is probably their finest ever. The experienced "Ox" du Randt and captain, John Smit were the foundations for a forward pack that was probably the best at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, backed up by the very reliable CJ van der Linde. On the bench you had the du Plessis brothers who have carried on and are amongst the two best front rowers in the world.
Craig Dowd-Sean Fitzpatrick-Olo Brown (NEW ZEALAND)
Until the trio of Woodcock-Mealamu-Franks came along, Dowd/Fitzpatrick/Brown was probably the front row that most All Blacks fans deemed the greatest in their history. They formed the basis of the scrum that dominated and should have won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, and continued to dominate world rugby until the end of the 1997 season.
Trevor Woodman? He played 22 tests and was hardly a regular starter for England. Jannie Du Plessis only got onto the bench courtesy of an injury to BJ Botha. Just because the England and Springboks front rows above started a Rugby World Cup final, doesn't make them great front rowers. I think Bismarck du Plessis is far better than John Smit ever was. There were some amazing props pre 2003 and some great players especially for teams like Argentina who never got the recognition they deserve.
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