French is the only Otago bowler in the New Zealand indoor bowls team heading to Australia this weekend for the long-delayed defence of the Henselite Trophy.
The Mat Blacks will play the Australians over three days of intensive competition in Ballarat.
It has been nearly three and a-half years since the Mat Blacks pipped Australia 34-32 in a thrilling clash in Invercargill.
French, a Dunedin painter, was part of that successful national squad in 2019 but, like his team-mates, has had to bide his time for the rematch while the pandemic raged.
"There’s been a heap of cancellations, and tournaments getting affected when everyone gets Covid," French said.
"It’s just been a nightmare.
"It will be good to get out of New Zealand for a week and play some bowls, and we haven’t been able to catch up with our team-mates much for a couple of years, so that will be good as well."
More than most in the New Zealand team, French has some inside oil on how the transtasman rivals will play.
His cousin, Kyle French, is a member of the Australian squad.
"He moved over about 15 years ago.
"I won’t actually be playing against him this time, but I played against him in our last two tests.
"They’ve got some good players."
Daniel French will play the singles before joining Simon Thomas and Michael Lawson in a proven triples combination.
Singles games are in the morning sessions and triples in the afternoon, so there will barely be time to catch his breath.
French made his New Zealand debut in Sydney in 2017.
The Henselite Trophy is normally played every two years.
