The All Blacks fly-half insisted it was important that the team played to their strengths and used their mobility and speed to get the better of the world champions.

Weve got mobile guys. Weve got really fit guys. The Super 12 is a fast competition and requires a high skill level, Mehrtens said.

Were not really a nation that grinds out things but weve obviously got to be tough at times. We have got to use our skill, use our mobility and attack them and play at a pace of game that really tests them.

You dont want to give anyone any space its just maximising the use of the ball really and not giving it away too often, he explained.

Mehrtens has had something of a revival in the past couple of weeks thanks to impressive performances in the Super 12 final for the Crusaders and another for the Probables in the All Blacks trial.

Now he faces another challenge, ousting Blues rival Carlos Spencer from the number 10 jersey, to complete his return from the international wilderness.

It will be interesting to see which way New Zealand coach Graham Henry will lean. He is a noted admirer of Spencer, who has superb running game and can conjure tries out of seemingly nothing.

But Spencers often risky approach can lead to his undoing as was seen in the World Cup semi-final when it was his pass that Australias Sterling Mortlock pounced on to score an intercept try.

Mehrtens, while less flamboyant than Spencer, reads and controls a game well and has a tactical kicking game that is without peer in New Zealand.