Hore: New format has appeal 13/8/2012 8:03 PM Lynn McConnell Sportal
Having the extra challenge of playing Argentina in the quest for Southern Hemisphere rugby supremacy would be an added stimulus for the All Blacks this year.
Hooker Andrew Hore said there was a bit of the 'same old, same old' about what had been the Tri Nations and the World Cup champions were looking forward to the Argentinian involvement.
While the Championship opens with away and home games against Australia, starting on Saturday, Argentina would be next on the block in Wellington on September 8 with the return game in La Plata on September 30.
"It'll be pretty pleasing to get over there and have a crack at them, they're a pretty good side when they get going," he said.
Hore said that with Super Rugby out of the way he was excited to get into the Rugby Championship.
He wasn't getting ahead of himself, the final team selection is not released until Thursday, but the All Blacks had a proud record against Australia, and whether they were the world champions or not, the next Test was just that and it was a case of making sure the job required was done properly.
Initially the tenor of the camp was getting familiar with one another and also acknowledging the success of the Chiefs in winning the Super title and investigating some of the ideas they had employed in their success.
For the All Blacks it was based around getting better every time you played, he said, and not resting on your laurels.
"It's a pretty special Cup [Bledisloe], it's something we've had for a while and it took a long time for some of the boys to get to drink out of it and hopefully we can keep doing that," he said.
The enthusiasm of younger players not so used to the special feel of the trans-Tasman Tests also helped to raise the excitement levels for the older players, he said.
In some ways the Bledisloe Cup was the second most important Cup after the World Cup and they would be doing their best to keep it.
Hore wasn't getting drawn into providing any pre-match motivation for the Australian front row ahead of Saturday's Test.
"They'll be like anything, they'll get out there and do their best for their country, just like we do and it is always good fun to play them and have a bit of a chat to Steve Moore and those boys so we'll just see what happens on Saturday," he said
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