Preparations done... reaching a crescendo

THE headline on the front page of the New Zealand Herald summed it up perfectly: “The red invasion is here.”

Just like the Lions tour itself, the numbers of travelling fans has been steadily building over the last few weeks.

And now, as we reach the business end of the trip, that “red invasion” is well and truly on.

It’s just about impossible to walk anywhere in central Auckland at the moment without seeing a Lions jersey.

Quite literally, there is red everywhere.

On Thursday night, I went for a bite to eat in a bar in the popular Viaduct area of the city, down by the waterfront.

As I was munching away, I looked up and realised that virtually everybody in the place was in Lions colours – and the place was packed.

The fact wasn’t lost on the management who were pumping out a suitable soundtrack, taking it nation by nation.

Just before I left, you had Dirty Old Town by The Pogues as the Irish tune, the inevitable 500 Miles by The Proclaimers ticking the Scottish box and then the intriguing choice of Tom Jones’ She’s a Lady for us Welshies.

I had to head back to my hotel to do a WalesOnline webchat before the English song appeared, so I am still left wondering. My money is on Oasis. That wasn’t the end of it, though. Just round the corner from my hotel there is the obligatory Irish bar, and as I walked past I was greeted by Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau being belted out by a group of reasonably-lubricated Welshmen.

As I say, the invasion is in full swing. With the Lions in Auckland

Of course, there are some hardcore fans who have been on board for the full duration.

From Whangarei to Christchurch, down to Dunedin and then back up to Rotorua and Hamilton, they have followed the team every step of the way.

There’s been a significant red presence wherever we’ve gone and hardly a day has gone by when I haven’t heard a Welsh accent.

But now the full-timers have been joined by hordes of reinforcements who have arrived for the Test series, just as has happened with the media corps.

I’m part of a group of around 30 hacks who have been on tour from the outset, whether that’s print journalists, online reporters, the broadcast brigade or the snappers.

But this week we’ve been joined by a bevy of new arrivals, with big-name feature writers and well-known TV faces coming on board. By my reckoning, one national newspaper now has five people on the tour!

It made for the busiest and most heavily-attended press conference yet on Thursday when Warren Gatland talked us through his first Test team selection at the QBE Stadium in Albany on the North Shore, where the Lions were training.

There must have been around 80 people in the room and that was despite the fact All Blacks coach Steve Hansen was holding his own press conference at the same time in downtown Auckland.

So, things have moved up a gear off the field this week and significantly so.

Now the same is about to happen out on the park.

What we have had so far has been intriguing and at times compelling, but it has all been a preamble to the main event.

It was always going to be about the Test series on this trip. That’s what the tour will be judged on and that’s what the Lions coaching staff have been focused on from day one.

The games up to now have served an important purpose but, ultimately, they have been about preparing for what lies ahead.

While the opposition so far has been testing and twice victorious, it’s now time for the real deal, the best team on the planet, the back-to-back world champions, the mighty All Blacks.

It’s a huge challenge and to make it all the more mountainous, the game is being played at Eden Park.

Here’s a little stat for you. The last time New Zealand lost there, Maro Itoje hadn’t been born!

You have to go back to July 3, 1994, to find the last All Blacks’ defeat at their Auckland fortress, a 23-20 loss at the hands of France.

It took something very special to beat them that day, the try from the end of the world, to be precise.

If you get a chance, look it up on You Tube, because it’s an extraordinary effort, a near length-of-the-field attack launched from deep by Philippe Saint-André, with the ball going through nine pairs of hands before full-back Jean-Luc Sadourny touches down.

It was a try fit to win any match and it’s somehow appropriate it should have been so special given what a historic victory it has turned out to be.

No-one could have known at the time that the All Blacks would go through the next 23 years without losing another game at Eden Park.

It’s a remarkable record and one that looms large over this weekend’s game.

But records have to be broken some time and, if the Lions are to win this series, they will have to end the Kiwis’ winning run in Auckland as two of the three Tests are being played at the ground.

The French triumph from 1994 shows it takes something pretty exceptional to beat the All Blacks in this fine city.

So, do the Lions have something