All Blacks go pink

The All Blacks were far removed from their traditional training kit during Tuesday’s training session in Wellington.

Teaming up with sponsor Adidas, backs Dan Carter and Israel Dagg designed two unique training strips, Carter opting for a blue, white and red jersey, while Dagg went for eye-catching pink and blue hoops.

"It's a beautiful colour,'' said Dagg in defence of his creation, which had the squad divided between forwards and backs.

Captain Richie McCaw made it clear that the forwards were not to don Dagg’s pink strip.

"Obviously the skipper had a word and said 'the forwards aren't wearing that' but most of the backline wore it except for Richie and his brutal machines,'' said Dagg.

"Victor and Liam had it on but then Richie gave them a look and they had to take it off ... Express yourself, that is what the All Blacks is about,'' Dagg added.

On a serious note, hooker Andrew Hore said they are bracing for a physical battle up front when the world champions host Argentina at Westpac Stadium on Saturday.

"They are pretty tough up front traditionally," said Hore. “I've been lucky enough to play them three times and they definitely give you a hard time at scrum time [while] they play to their strengths I think.

"They have the same attitude as most people [and teams]. Get some dominance up front and go from there. They've done it well so far as they've been brought up to play rugby much like the French people, they take pride in being big and strong."