Justin Marshall, poised to play his 50th rugby Test on Saturday, believes the All Blacks are starting to show positive signs of maturity.

The All Blacks meet France in Wellington in a one-off match that will launch them into the tough Tri-Nations series against South Africa and Australia.

"I think in the last two-three years we've been guilty of playing to the letter of the law,'' Marshall said after they dispatched Argentina 67-19 at Jade Stadium on Saturday.

Evidence of the All Blacks turning the corner, he said, came in the form of a hardened attitude to give as good as they got against Argentina, their ability to weather pressure without panicking or losing discipline and then subduing the opponents.

"We made a conscious decision that we're not going to back down this year. I think we saw that attitude; that we weren't going to be walked over when they (Pumas) threw everything at us.

"We'll fight fire with fire. I think that hard attitude is coming back. We were accused of being too nice a side. Now we want to win, whatever that takes.

"We realised they were going to dive in all day and be disruptive and make it difficult for us to take them out of the way because they would be on the ground.

"Once we started setting our target system a bit closer to the forwards it made it a bit easier for us to spread our second-phase ball. The room just opened up and away we went."

Marshall said players, among them Taine Randell and captain Anton Oliver, talked things over after each whistle when they were being bombarded with some ferocious pick-and-drives by the Pumas.

"We didn't panic, we kept assessing and communicating and changing things slightly and then we had them. We didn't deviate from the plan under pressure."

Marshall was in the middle of decision-making and execution plans that often caught the Argentine defence short on the flanks. He darted around the rucks several times to give the forwards the roll-on that ran the Pumas ragged.

One of his incisive runs allowed his fellow Crusaders player, lock Chris Jack, a try on debut off the bench. Jack was rapt. "I just followed him and he threw a great pass, the way was clear," Jack acknowledged.

It was one of the 10 tries the All Blacks scored after a shaky start when they butchered at least three tries from poor passing, handling or over-eagerness.

The powerful Argentina front row of Roberto Grau, who was later suspended for three weeks after kneeing Troy Flavell, Federico Mendez and Omar Hasan plus flanker Rolando Martin smashed the All
Blacks around the fringes and disrupted their attempts to string together phase ball.

Nevertheless, lock Norman Maxwell became a steady source of possession in the lineout. With that sort of supply, the home side were able to turn the Pumas around and stretch them on both flanks. Loose forwards Reuben Thorne, Taine Randell and locks Maxwell and Flavell dragged themselves back to the midfield and stormed at the defence.

When the Pumas did hold, they attacked towards the other flank. "They were very tough in contact," Pumas coach Marcelo Loffreda said. "We couldn't stop them in the first line of defence at the back. Their backs are very dangerous."

Marshall said the French would be even tougher as their backs attacked at every opportunity. France arrive in New Zealand on Tuesday after sharing a two-Test series with South Africa.

Meanwhile, Bay of Plenty rugby recruit Glen Jackson will take his place in the New Zealand Maori side for Tuesday night's clash with
Argentina at Rotorua.

Jackson, who has re-signed for Bay of Plenty for 2001 after four seasons with Waikato, missed last week's 33-26 win over a Wasps XV in Rotorua because of a calf injury. - Sapa-NZPA