CHANCE FOR DUO: A close selection call between Charles Piutau and Cory Jane looks like it may be averted by the ongoing illness of Julian Savea.

A close selection call between Charles Piutau and Cory Jane looks like it may be averted by the ongoing illness of star All Blacks wing Julian Savea ahead of Sunday's test against France.

Savea was still unable to train as the All Blacks kicked off the serious part of their preparations with a two-hour hitout in the rain in Paris today.

It's the third straight day the 23-year-old Wellington flier has been unable to leave his hotel room after picking up a dose of the "flu" on the way over with the advance party of nine who left New Zealand last Friday.

It had been hoped Savea would be able to shake off his illness in time to participate in the two main training hitouts of the week, on Tuesday and Thursday.

But Savea's absence today indicates he's unlikely to take his usual spot on the left wing at Stade de France (kickoff 9am Sunday, NZ time), with the All Blacks coaches likely to be reluctant to play him on such limited preparation.

That's a blow for the New Zealanders as they look to keep alive their quest for professional rugby's first perfect year against a French team they swept 3-0 in June.

Savea has been in great form for the All Blacks in 2013, starting nine of the 10 tests and scoring four tries to bring his tally to 16 in 18 internationals.

If Savea had played, it was shaping as a tight call on the right wing between Piutau, who has played well in the last two tests, and Jane who is over a hamstring injury that prevented him playing his scheduled comeback test in Dunedin against the Wallabies last month.

It would have been interesting to see whether coach Steve Hansen would have gone with the impressive recent form of Piutau or the established pedigree of Jane who has only played a couple of provincial games in 2013 after spending most of the year recovering from a serious knee injury.

In the normal course of events Jane – a standout All Black in recent years – would have been an automatic selection, but he's been so light on football that it's understood the coaches were giving serious thought to giving Piutau the nod based on quality efforts in Dunedin and Tokyo.

But now it's likely Sunday's test could see both audition for the right wing spot against England next week, with Savea almost certain to be back in the mix by then.

Assistant coach Ian Foster nominated Piutau and tighthead prop Charles Faumuina as two players who had made the most of their opportunities to put the pressure on incumbents.

It's almost certain Owen Franks will resume in the No 3 jersey for the All Blacks on Sunday, but after watching Faumuina handle the huge responsibility of starting against the Boks in Johannesburg, then back that up with a strong display as a starter in Dunedin, Franks now knows the Aucklander is another established member of this squad with some competition on his hands.

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen also missed today's training to attend to some other business in the city. The session was run by Foster who put the full squad through a rigorous workout as they sharpen for what they're predicting will be a serious French challenge.

After being told French coach Philippe Saint-Andre had urged his team to be "bold" as they look to end a 13-year home winless streak against the All Blacks, Foster made it clear how this current French team was perceived.

"I'm not sure what being bold means for the French," he said.

"It doesn't mean they're going to chuck the ball everywhere, it just means they're going to do what they want to do very, very well.

"They've got a very physical pack – physicality at the set piece and breakdown are their core strengths – and I can't see them moving away from that part of their game.

"What they will do if we give them front-foot ball I guess is like any team – they've got the skill to really hurt you out wide. We've got to make sure we don't give them the chance to do that."

The All Blacks will name their test lineup on Thursday evening (NZ time) but don't expect Hansen to veer too far from the troops who got him up to another sweep of the Rugby Championship.

The most interesting selection, now Savea is an unlikely starter, is possibly at hooker where Hansen has veterans Keven Mealamu and Andrew Hore and younger Dane Coles to choose from.

With experience likely to be considered essential this week it could be that Mealamu gets the nod, with Coles a chance to back him up on the bench.