Who was that masked man?

By GREG FORD in Aix-en-Provence - Fairfax Media | Tuesday, 18 September 2007

It was a moment of levity amid the often hum-drum life for a touring All Black. And it came from the most unexpected of quarters.
All Blacks take time out.

About 50 media were interviewing half a dozen members of the team in their hotel garden when out of nowhere came a rather large individual running manically through the throng.

He had a hood over his head and it later transpired it was Carl Hayman doing his best impression of a gimp. The big All Black prop is garnering himself a reputation as a prankster after years of dead-panning it in public.

He appeared to get a kick out of the joke. But, more importantly, so did his team-mates.

The All Blacks are in such a relaxed mood of late it has been the major talking point of the tournament, especially for those who operated in the bad old days when John Mitchell created a siege mentality in the team.

Certainly the weather and the venues the All Blacks have been basing themselves in the south of France have helped. As Jerry Collins explained last week, it's not hard to get out of the bed in the mornings in such magic conditions.

Before they head away to Edinburgh on Friday the team is basing itself in Aix-Provence. Many of the squad simply played golf and cycled around the picturesque city on a rare day off from the grind of training.

Keven Mealamu said it was an ideal place to unwind after a test match which was helping the mood no end.

But there's a little more to it than good coffee and croissants.

It's been slowly building, and the team has a certain air of self-confidence to them at the moment. It's not being borne out in players' comments at the often sterile interview sessions conducted while on tour. But it's discernible in their body language, the way they carry themselves and interact with each other. They're enjoying themselves. That might sound an odd thing to say, but all too often All Black teams have been unhappy camps.

The locals are doing their bit too.

The French, with the odd exception, seem pleased to have the All Blacks in their midst, especially on game day. Their famous indifference to anything but themselves is providing the team with welcome respite.

Mealamu, an honest guy, admitted the team is now better at handling the pressure of being All Blacks. They have learned to enjoy their position of privilege and can now flick the switch and move into game mode when the time comes. It means the team doesn't waste valuable mental energy on things they can't control.

And the language barrier in France is also proving a bonus rather than a hindrance,

"A lot of us don't speak the language so we don't understand what is being written about us in the papers," he said.

"It puts us out of the public eye so the boys are just having a good time."

I believe that's partly due to the fact they don't feel as if they have anything to prove to anyone else. Their record in recent years speaks for itself. They know they are a class team and are comfortable with that. Of course they want to prove they are capable of becoming world champions. But I get the impression they have everything in perspective at the moment.

Carl Hayman included.