Dylan Cleaver: Eden Park has become a result rather than a venue

Whether at the park or a nearby pub the prevailing mood was the same: the All Blacks will win this series, no matter what absolutely positively happens in Wellington this week.

The reason was not that Beauden Barrett has suddenly allied reliable goalkicking to his otherworldly game, though that's a plus.

It's not that Kieran Read has returned from a long injury looking as if he's spent his time away wondering how he's going to crush the Lions' spirit, though that's a plus.

It's not that Rieko Ioane has again shown that no country has a production line that spits out test-ready talent as effectively as New Zealand, though that's a plus.

And it wasn't even that Brodie Retallick provided startling evidence as to why being named best rugby player on the planet in 2014 was not just a case of the panel giving someone in the tight five a rare turn.

Though that's a plus.

No, the confidence stemmed not through the respective strengths of the teams but from location, location, location.

Eden Park might be a mismatched bag of bones whose future viability is under a constant cloud, but the stadium has mystical powers when it comes to the All Blacks.

People no longer talk about it as a venue but as a pre-ordained result.

Such as: "The Lions haven't got a chance, not with two of the three tests at Eden Park."

It's easy to write it off as ridiculous but when you watch how well the Lions played for long periods of the first test and see that they were turned over 30-15 - and seven of those points came in garbage time - you can't help but conclude there is some sort of self-unfulfilling prophesy at work.

The numbers are silly even taking into consideration the All Blacks' historic win rate that is creeping ever so surely up to the 80 per cent mark.

Since 1995 (people often forget that the next test following the Try From the End of the Earth was a wretched 18-18 draw against the Springboks), the All Blacks have played and won 38 tests at Eden Park.

Only five sides in that period - Australia (2003, 2006 and 2009), France (2011) and England (2014) - have finished within a converted try and only France finished within a penalty.

It's just bonkers.

What we saw at the park last was a fantastic game of footy littered with five-star performances and moments of astonishing skill. The Lions have won a lot of tests playing much worse than that.

The neutrals will be hoping for a Lions win in Wellington and you know what, wishing for 1-1 after two wouldn't even be the most unpatriotic thing you could do as a New Zealander.

The last game's at Eden Park, after all, so it doesn't really matter.