CHICAGO -- The All Blacks are flying under the radar in Chicago with the city focused on Tuesday night's Game 6 in the World Series but they are enjoying escaping from the spotlight as they prepare for Saturday's match against Ireland.
The city is awash with Cubs jerseys and caps as the city keeps just about everything crossed that their team delivers against the Indians in Cleveland. With the Bears winning on Monday night, the Blackhawks in action on Wednesday and the Bulls facing the Knicks on Friday, the All Blacks are far from being the dominant show in town. It is a rarity.
But like 2014, they are quite enjoying it and their relative anonymity -- despite a huge cheer when they were shown on the screen at the Bulls on Sunday -- means they are focusing on growing a familiarity between each other with four uncapped players in the squad.
Rugby meets basketball! The #AllBlacks loved cheering on @chicagobulls today! 🏉🏀 #ChicagoBulls #TeamAllBlacks pic.twitter.com/d8d9lY1pb8
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) October 30, 2016
"It is refreshing," All Blacks openside Sam Cane said. "Because we've got here a couple of days early, it's allowed the boys to get out and experience the other sports too. Once we've got past that stage and we've kicked off our week it allows us to focus on our prep without too much distractions."
Despite attractions aplenty in Chicago they mean business. All Blacks assistant coach Ian Foster dismissed any notion of Saturday's Test at a sold out Soldier Field being one where they will change things up. Instead, with three further Tests waiting in Europe over the coming weekends, they see this as a seminal match in their unbeaten year.
"For us this is a pretty pivotal game in our tour," Foster said. "To come here and clearly we've had a few disruptions and we're playing Ireland who will be gunning for us so for us we see this as a massive game.
"We'll work on the word development later on, this week is about performing at the top level and by doing that and having that as our focus, that's how we grow. There might be a few changes here and there but it's not about just giving guys opportunity, it's about making sure this squad performs at a high level every week."
Their build-up has been far from straight forward. The Aaron Smith saga hung over them as he missed their last two Tests -- he is now back in contention -- but they will need to blood at least one debutant in the second-row with Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick injured and Luke Romano returning to New Zealand due to a family bereavement.
That sees them head into Saturday's Test with three second-rows in the uncapped Scott Barrett and Vaea Fifita and 10-cap Patrick Tuipulotu. Despite their relative inexperience -- they could come up against Ireland duo Devin Toner and Donnacha Ryan who have 79 caps between them -- Foster is confident they will deliver.
"They've come in and done what we need them to do," Foster said. "They've got some good teachers around them and the boys have come on tour. Scott and Vaea have worked really hard to get up to speed and they're doing a good job at it."
Although the Cubs are currently dominating the agenda, come Saturday the All Blacks will be back in the sporting spotlight. Having announced themselves in Chicago back in 2014 when they eased past the U.S., they have fond memories of being here.
"There is a good buzz around the city," All Blacks centre Ryan Crotty said. "Hopefully it carries over to next weekend. From a couple of years ago, there's a little more knowledge around what rugby is and who the All Blacks are compared to when we were here last time."
But come Saturday, this will be about delivering in front of 61,500 folk at Soldier Field and securing their 19th straight victory.