Expressive v Suppressive

First test a contrast in styles

Two worlds collide. Two styles as well. After waiting an interminable 12 years for it to roll round again, rugby at last gets the matchup of matchups at Eden Park tonight between the Creators and the Suffocators, aka the All Blacks and the British and Irish Lions.

Which approach prevails in the always pivotal first of three tests? Which strength holds sway? Which Kiwi coach will take the moral high ground? At the end of what should be 80 scintillating, and at times seismic, minutes at a ground that has become the All Blacks’ fortress over the last 23 years, we should have a fair idea.

One team – the All Blacks – yearn to play the game at pace, with width, ball in hand and the athleticism and expression that suits their personnel. They will look to strike off turnover, to pressure with the kick-chase and to use their wonderful natural instincts to find holes in that Lions defence that other, lesser, sides have struggled to identify.

The other – those Lions – will approach things differently. They will look to squeeze the life out of the back-to-back world champions with their trademark line speed on defence, and with their power at the set piece. They will play a calculated, territorial game and they will as many bodies as they have to, to slow down that All Blacks supply line.

One team will look to run and stun, the other to strangle and stifle. It’s the essence of rugby.

That’s the theory at least. The weather could have a say and, of course, the result is paramount. The All Blacks are not beneath jumping into the trenches, if that is what it takes. And who knows? Maybe the Lions will show that ‘‘X-factor’’ that their increasingly chirpy coach Warren Gatland has hinted from the outset is in their makeup. Twelve years ago this matchup proved ridiculously onesided as the All Blacks swept the Lions with ease.

But that was then and this is now. This is a different Lions beast under Gatland. They reflect a British and Irish game collectively in a very good place, and have given every indication on tour, morphing from a stagger into a swagger, that they are coming together nicely into a content, cohesive group with a clear idea of their strengths and game-plan.

But this is the All Blacks who have not lost at their Auckland fortress since 1994. That’s 38 straight tests won on their Garden of Eden. They have also not dropped a match In New Zealand since 2009, which makes it 46 victories on the bounce – and counting.

Their keys? Deal with the line-speed, then break it down. Everyone has a role, but Beauden Barrett and Sonny Bill Williams must be assertive. Muscle up at the set piece and ruck. Seize on turnovers. Do that and the rest should take care of itself.

If this becomes a battle of which team can create best, rather than suffocate most, the All Blacks will have the Lions right where they want them. Getting there will be the hard part.

Hansen, who has lost just four times with the All Blacks since he took the head coach’s reins in 2012, put this series on the same level as the business end of a World Cup. That sort of pressure, intensity, stakes and interest.

‘‘It’s exciting. You can feel the enthusiasm and hunger with the players. That doesn’t guarantee you’ll win, but it does guarantee your attitude will be right, and we know if our attitude is right and our clarity is right, then we’re a good side.

‘‘You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know we want to play off quick ball and they will want us not to. There’s nowhere to hide. It’s advantage to the team that wins the first [test]. But there have been plenty of occasions where people have come from behind to win.’’