To get a sense of how important Kieran Read is to the All Blacks, one needs only to stand on the sideline at training.
There he was at Napier's McLean Park on Thursday afternoon - demanding more from his fellow forwards as they lined up against the reserves and those not required to play Argentina tonight.
Compared with skipper Richie McCaw, another who catches the eye on the training paddock with his constant tackling, tackling, tackling, a man in perpetual motion just as he is on game night, it is Read who is more vocal. It is also Read who is singled out for praise by Steve Hansen, watching from the middle of the field, after the big No8 shuts down a potential attack from a lineout.
And, along with first-five Aaron Cruden, who played one of his best tests against Australia at Eden Park a fortnight ago, it was perhaps Read who gained most from the breakthrough victory that banished suggestions that this is an All Black team on the wane.
An up-and-down year due to a worryingly stubborn concussion injury that disrupted his season with the Crusaders and which meant he had started only two tests before the demolition in Auckland - against England in Hamilton when he was taken off at halftime, and the recent stalemate in Sydney - is on the up again.
For 28-year-old Read, the 2013 IRB World Player of the Year and one of the most influential players in the game, there is a sense that he is on the rise, that, a bit like the All Blacks, he is on the brink of something special after some recent disappointments.
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"I feel like I'm in reasonable form," he said. "It's about hopefully getting some opportunities on the paddock," Read said.
"I'm really refreshed. Obviously with having a slower start to the season, I'm feeling in good nick and I'm really looking forward to making a bit of an impact."
This is probably as close as Read gets to blowing his own trumpet, but an impact was what he made last time out. Straight after that 50-point Bledisloe Cup triumph he was asked about the try he scored in the final stages, but he replied he could remember little of it, a comment that probably speaks to his modesty and also the dynamic nature of tests.
"I think we probably needed that performance, as a group," he said in reflection this week. "We've been trying really hard this year and probably haven't had that. It certainly was needed, in terms of everything that was put on that game as well. From our point of view we wanted to make a statement, but the beauty of this game is suddenly here we are again this weekend and if we don't do it again against the Argentines we're back to where we were.
Watch: Hansen 'Pumas will be very tough'
"I look at them and I see a little bit of how we play in them. They're a different team to what they have been in the past two years. They've got a bit of structure there around their attack and they do like to give the ball a bit of width. They're very capable, when you chuck in their scrum and lineout drive on top of that as well."
After Thursday's physical training session, Read and McCaw worked on their kicking and catching skills while others, like the Franks brothers, ran into each other. Sam Whitelock and Wyatt Crockett brought themselves to the brink of exhaustion with a cleanout drill.
Loose forward pair Read and McCaw have little to gain from bashing each other, but Hansen's All Blacks still have edges that can be smoothed over. Discipline for one, as Read acknowledged. "It is something we have talked about. Four yellow cards in two games is really bad.
"It's more guys backing our defensive systems, really. There's no point in giving away silly penalties."
Consistency is another. "For us we want to put in a performance that we're proud of," Read added. "You expect that these guys are going to be tough and we're going to have to play extremely well to get past them. They're different challenges but what doesn't change is how we prepare to perform."
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