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What have we done to deserve two shows in which ex-All Blacks explain France to us?

- RUSSELL BROWN

LOST IN FRANCE, Prime, from Wednesday, August 30, 8.30pm; IZZY & BEAVER'S FRENCH CONNECTION, Bravo, from Friday, September 8, 7.30pm

It used to be that when an All Black retired, you'd find him on the farm, or holding down a seat for life at the local clubrooms. To find one these days, all you need do is reach for the remote.

Carlos Spencer, for example, last year eased out of the patchy coaching career that followed his playing days with Carlos' Reno Rescue, a TVNZ show in which the mercurial first-five turned up, hammer-in-hand, to reward selected community heroes with a room makeover. Then Israel Dagg and Stephen Donald appeared earlier this year in Clubhouse Rescue on Bravo, with a design team in tow, to renovate run-down community sports clubs.

More recently, the action has shifted to the foreign fields of France, where they've been making identical-looking shows to screen as warm-ups for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.