With the Rugby World Cup in France fast approaching, two former All Blacks took it upon themselves to give kiwis a taste of what the host country has to offer.

‘Izzy and Beaver’s French Connection’ follows Israel Dagg and Stephen Donald on an action-packed tour through France, taking in the sights and scenery, meeting new people, and, of course, causing a bit of mischief.

The French have a bit of a reputation when it comes to tourists, English-speaking tourists in particular. However, Dagg and Donald told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking that as soon as they found out that they were Kiwis they were perfectly welcoming.

“If they think you’ve got any resemblance with England they don’t want a bar of ya,” Dagg told Hosking.

“But as soon as you tell them you’re from New Zealand, they jump straight into the All Blacks chat.”

Throughout the show, Dagg’s love of food, wine, and culture is on display, while Donald indulges his love of history, taking the lead on planning, though not on driving.

“I was driving,” Dagg joked with the Newstalk ZB host. “I was driving and he would sleep the whole time.”

While the pair visited all sorts of places on their trip, they developed a fondness for the little pieces of history.

The pair visited Pont du Gard, the Roman aqueduct in Nîmes, and the Sénanque Abbey in Gordes.

“It’s the places we never would’ve gone to,” Stephen said. “They blew our minds.”

But even if you take the boys out of New Zealand, you can’t take New Zealand out of the boys, and Saint-Tropez was a favourite as well. “Once we hit the coastline? It was awesome,” Donald told Mike Hosking.

France is known for its cheese and wine, and according to the pair, it lived up to the hype: “we came back about 28 kilos heavier than we left,” Dagg joked with Hosking.

And as for the World Cup itself, both boys are backing the All Blacks, despite their disastrous showing against South Africa.

“I feel like it was a mindset thing, they were on different spectrums.” Dagg said of the South Africa loss.

“Dump that one and move on,” Donald agreed.

Another thing they agreed on was Ireland, giving them “no chance.”

“I know people are saying they’re ranked number one in the world, but I think World Cups are different.”

Where they disagreed was the final - Dagg’s betting on the All Blacks and France battling it out again, “like in 2011.”

But Donald thinks it’ll be South Africa taking on the All Blacks.

“The South African-All Black final hasn’t happened for a while. I reckon we’re long overdue it,” he told Newstalk ZB.

‘Izzy and Beaver’s French Connection’ premieres Sunday 10th of September at 6:30pm on Bravo.