As the second half of the All Blacks' World Cup match against Namibia dragged painfully on through the referee's whistle and long stretches of inactivity, a lightbulb might have switched on in the collective minds of some Northern Hemisphere teams.
No team will want to allow the All Blacks to build momentum during matches, and the defending champions have made no secret of wanting to play the game at pace - building on the quicksilver hands and feet of halfback Aaron Smith and using their handling skills and fitness to ask endless questions of the opposition.
Nothing stops that like an injury break, a slow walk to a lineout, or constantly reset scrums and England and Wales, two teams the All Blacks might meet in the knockout stages, already have recent form here.
England, during their test at Eden Park last year, took an age to get to lineouts, a deliberately slow walk which allowed them to both catch their breath and attempt to take the wind from the All Blacks' sails.