Maxime Lucu on Bordeaux's 9-10-12 playing the Hurricanes' 9-10-12

While the Bordeaux vs Hurricanes debate will inevitably rage on regardless of the result between the All Blacks and France on Saturday night, the backline matchup will offer an insight into the quality of the respective club heavyweights, with both 9-10-12 combinations selected for national duty.

France captain Maxime Lucu will be joined by Bordeaux partners Matthieu Jalibert at 10 and Yoram Moefana at 12, while the Hurricanes have named Cam Roigard at halfback, Ruben Love at 10 and Jordie Barrett at 12.

The dominance Bordeaux displayed in their Champions Cup final 41-19 win over Leinster had the rugby world talking, with many seeing the one-sided fixture as a sign that the French team was clear of any competitor in the club world.

Hurricanes fans weren’t so convinced, with their team dominating their region and going on to win the Super Rugby Pacific final by a record scoreline of 60-5.

With a Club World Cup still two years away, Saturday’s contest under the new roof of Christchurch’s One New Zealand Stadium will be a tantalising hint at how the two squads match up.

Lucu says he was watching the Hurricanes throughout their title run and is conscious that their cohesion can carry over to the All Blacks. But he also said the same applies to his team.

“Yes, we watch a lot of Super Rugby, especially the season the Hurricanes have had, the Chiefs have had, and the Blues,” the French halfback said in Christchurch.

“We saw the final and the semi-finals, so we know there’s a lot of talent in that team. We also know this because we’ve been playing the New Zealanders for a while now, and we know that their backline, in particular, is really, really competitive and perhaps one of the best in the world.

“We know that we’ve also developed some combinations with the Bordeaux team, which can help us settle in and give us a bit of a head start in the few weeks we have to work together with the French team.

“Now, we also have some good players alongside us. But yes, what’s happening on the other team, especially the Hurricanes players, we’ve seen that given the tournament they’ve had, we know that if we can’t shut them down, we’re going to have a lot of trouble getting the ball. So we’ll have to be strong on defence and also show that we’re capable of doing great things.

“But we will have a lot to do tomorrow.”