Two things were impossible not to notice during the All Blacks' European tour: the World Cup coming to England in 2015, and the influence of Pacific Island players.
Preparations for the next tournament are advancing well. Venues, kick-off times and the host broadcaster have been confirmed.
Some of the All Black management team will return to England early next year to review potential bases and training grounds and even this far out there is a sense England are going to do this well.
Ticket sales will be a breeze, no doubt, and commercially 2015 will be huge. The profile of rugby will lift enormously and all will seem rosy in the garden. That's a safe enough prediction.
But so too is it a safe prediction that once again the Pacific Islands will find they are victims of a global rugby market that wants only to exploit rather than support them.