The All Blacks first tactical move during the 2015 Rugby World Cup has been an off-field charm offensive.
They deliberately scheduled their arrival a few days earlier than necessary purely to meet with fans and international media - and of course keep the sponsors happy by showing up at their events.
But has it paid off? I think 'yes' in terms of the All Blacks mental preparedness for this Cup - but 'no' in terms of winning over the locals.
Don't get me wrong - it's not like the public here don't admire the All Blacks. It's just natural that England's biggest threat in this cup is always going to be seen as the enemy - and the chance for a few selfies and autographs with the Kiwis isn't going to change that.
For those in England that don't follow rugby (we're talking more majority than minority) - Jonah Lomu is still really the only All Black they can name quickly off the top of their heads.
For those that do follow rugby - they just regurgitate the tired fallacy in the English media that the All Blacks are cheats.
So it seems to me that the fan turnout at these back to back promotional events that the All Blacks have been rolled out to over the last couple of days has been 90% made up of kiwi ex-pats.
When the All Blacks play their pool games - the home crowd will undoubtedly be cheering on their opponents instead.
That said, I think it's been a worthwhile experience for the All Blacks to get a sense of the support that will be in the stands for them - even though their voices may be drowned out.
I'd hope it's also a chance for the All Blacks to get that distraction of the excitement of the festival atmosphere out of the way - really douse them in it until they're so sick of the extra-curricular stuff that they just want to play rugby.
After a couple of hours at a fan session at a central London sports bar you could sense the player's jetlagged shoulders droop when they were asked to do one last signing session.
That's a good sign if you ask me.
As for this first tactic, I'd say well played All Blacks, well played. Now let's get into the real work.
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