Highlanders winger Waisake Naholo caused the Lions problems last night. Photo / Brett Phibbs
The beauty of watching the Lions play every three days is that the All Blacks have been able to sit back and build a fat dossier of research to help guide their selections and strategies.
What they would have taken from the game against the Highlanders is the obviously brilliant performance from Waisake Naholo.
It's not as if they could have missed it. Naholo seemed to be able to do almost anything against the Lions - beat them for pace, run over them, catch their high kicks, win turnovers and score tries.
Just as obvious was the Lions' stress levels when Naholo was on the ball and their inability to close him down and prevent his influence being colossal.
They won't be too keen to see him again in a black jersey. The Lions were vulnerable when faced with a powerful, direct wing which will inevitably encourage the All Blacks to consider fielding a double shot in the first test, with Naholo on the right and Julian Savea on the left.
Double the power, double the impact. Double the misery. A twin running threat from Naholo and Savea, with Ben Smith guiding them from fullback, would give the All Blacks destructive power on both flanks and the ability to strike from deep.
It will be tempting indeed to go down that selection track, signal early that they will be all about the counter attack and not care so much because the Lions will know what is coming but not necessarily be able to do much about it anyway.
But the All Blacks selectors have to be careful to not let events in Dunedin -the fastest, driest track in the world game - sway them too much.
Naholo was brilliant, yes, but the conditions for the first test at Eden Park won't be the same.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen will say he is no scientist but he will be aware of a few salient facts. He knows it has rained once or twice in Auckland and that the propensity for that to happen in mid-June is high.
Even if the dreaded monsoon season holds off arriving on the night, he knows the ball will still be wet: science can't be defied and the pitch will cool faster than the atmospheric moisture can evaporate and dew will form.
Neither the ball nor the pitch were wet in Dunedin but they were in Christchurch where the Lions appeared to be an entirely different team not just in personnel, but in attitude, accuracy and ability.
Every time Hansen thinks of Naholo running wild, he'll have to recall Lions halfback Conor Murray - arguably the best kicking number nine in the game - relentlessly peppering the Crusaders with a perfectly orchestrated and executed aerial assault.
He'll remember how the Crusaders didn't deal so well with it and ask himself whether Naholo could be so effective at Eden Park if Murray and no doubt Owen Farrell are driving the Lions' indisputably good kicking game?
Would the All Blacks themselves become vulnerable if they pick Savea and Naholo in tandem - potentially leaving themselves open to an aerial bombardment they can't quite deal with as effectively as they would like.
Naholo and Savea go okay under the high ball, but neither would list it as a key strength or weapon.
Hence, with Murray and Farrell in mind, Hansen may feel he has to bolster the back three with an auxiliary fullback: a genuine bomb disposal expert in Israel Dagg.
He didn't have the accuracy he was after when he played for the Crusaders against the Lions, but Dagg will be better for the experience.
He is brave and usually brilliant under the high ball and while he may not have the same finishing power as Naholo and Savea, it's not as if he's offering nothing on the running game front.
He has pace, agility, awareness and a big game temperament. Hansen and his selectors will have one last look at what is probably going to be the Lions test team in Rotorua against the Maori and then make up their minds about what exactly will be the right mix in their back three for that first test.