Italy coach, Nick Mallett bemoaned the 'horror' Australasian trip way before it even kicked off and it certainly doesn't get any easier this week when his team faces a rebounding New Zealand outfit at the AMI Stadium in Christchurch on Saturday.

The All Blacks got a timely wake-up call in their first Test of the season when a spirited French team came tantalisingly close to achieving a rare series win on New Zealand soil.

This will be the first time that Italy plays the All Blacks at Christchurch - a venue which will also host seven matches at the 2011 World Cup, including two quarterfinals.

To celebrate this, there will be an Italian Street Fiesta held prior to the Test match, in the surrounding streets of Lancaster and Stevens Streets.

There will also be a strong local flavour to the All Black team, with five Canterbury players - Brad Thorn, Wyatt Crockett, George Whitelock, Kieran Read and Isaac Ross – in the Test side.

The All Blacks come into this match on the back of a 'disappointing' series and nothing less than a convincing win will be good enough for the Kiwi fans.

Italy on the other hand, put up a spirited performance in their two Tests against the Wallabies but they never really came close to winning.

Having crossed the Tasman, the Azzurri will somehow have to find the goods to be competitive against the All Blacks, despite the latter experiencing a spate of injuries to frontline players.

The All Blacks' horror run of injuries suddenly questioned the depth within New Zealand rugby as a largely second-sting outfit now seems vulnerable but it's unlikely that Italy will cause too many problems.

Mallett feels his team will be far more competitive in poor conditions, as Italy are more suited to grinding rugby, rather than a faster style seen on hard dry tracks in the two previous Test against Australia

"I'm hoping it's going to chuck down with rain in Christchurch, I really hope it chucks down and then we've got a game that hopefully can be relatively competitive," Mallett said.

"I looked at the All Blacks game [against France] and it was pouring with rain. This [Melbourne] was the game I was very worried about because of the dry ball.

"Obviously, southern hemisphere skills, speed and technique is just so much quicker, so with a dry ball we were going to be put under pressure and I was proud of the way they went."

Having experienced so much success with the Springboks, Mallett felt he was making progress with Italy despite their losing streak.

It gets no easier after the current tour, with the All Blacks and Springboks looming at home in November.

"With South Africa you're wanting to win the Tri-Nations and the World Cup because you've got players of that quality. With Italy it's about trying to keep it competitive.

"I love the job and I like working with these guys. They have improved. But 10 losses in a row, you know... I got 17 wins with South Africa, I hope I'm not going for 17 losses in a row with Italy."

All Blacks coach Graham Henry is expecting a physical onslaught from the Italians, who would have taken heed from the demolition job of the French in their first Test against the Kiwi's.

"We are looking for continued improvement after our win over France, but we know that the Italians will be as well, after their two losses to Australia, so it will be another physical Test," Henry said.

Players to watch:

For New Zealand: With the debate surrounding Dan Carter's replacement still very much open, Luke McAlister will be hoping to stake a solid claim on the pivot position in the absence of Stephen Donald. Scrumhalf Brendon Leonard also makes his first appearance for the All Blacks in more than a year after being plagued by injuries while the explosive Ma'a Nonu will once again be a major threat to the Italian defence.

For Italy: Italy flyhalf Craig Gower will be looking to provide a little bit of attacking play and playing opposite the flamboyant McAlister should aid his effort in a big way. Italian skipper and No.8 Sergio Parisse is without a doubt their most impressive performer while Marco Botholami's performance in the engine room will also be crucial to the Azzurri cause.

Head to head: Luke McAlister's battle with Craig Gower should be one of the major sub-plots in Saturday's Test. But the Italians will of course be looking to challenge the All Blacks up front and the battle at the breakdown between impressive All Black fetcher, Tanerau Latimer and Italian scavenger Mauro Bergamasco should be an intriguing contest.

Recent results:

2007: New Zealand 76-14 Italy, Marseille
2004: New Zealand 59-10 Italy, Rome
2003: New Zealand 70-7 Italy, Melbourne 
2002: New Zealand 64-10 Italy,Hamilton 
2000: New Zealand 56-19  Italy, Genoa 
1999: New Zealand 101-3 Italy, Huddersfield 
1995: New Zealand 70-6 Italy, Bologna 
1991: New Zealand 31-21 Italy, Leicester 
1987: New Zealand 70-6 Italy, Auckland

iafrica.com Prediction: The All Blacks would have learnt a lot form their series against the French and they should have way too much firepower for the Italians to win by at least 20 points.

Teams:

New Zealand: 15 Mils Muliaina (captain), 14 Lelia Masaga, 13 Isaia Toeava, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Luke McAlister, 9 Brendon Leonard, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Tanerau Latimer, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 John Afoa, 2 Keven Mealamu, 1 Wyatt Crockett.
Replacements: 16 Aled de Malmanche, 17 Tony Woodcock, 18 Owen Franks, 19 Bryn Evans, 20 George Whitelock, 21 Piri Weepu, 22 Cory Jane.

Italy: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Craig Gower, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Marco Bortolami, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Ignacio Rouyet, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements: 16 Franco Sbaraglini, 17 Fabio Staibano, 18 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 19 Simone Favaro, 20 Guilio Toniolatti, 21 Kristopher Burton, 22 Matteo Pratichetti.

Date: Saturday, June 27
Venue: AMI Stadium, Christchurch
Kick-off: 19.35 (07.35 GMT)
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: James Leckie (Australia), Ian Smith (Australia)
TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)

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