Rugby: All Blacks at last face a genuine threat from a British and Irish Lions team

British and Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland, left, and Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt. Photo / Getty Images

Is that a shiver of apprehension under Kiwi bedclothes, the first sign of anxiety at what is coming their way?

It is a long time since New Zealand treated any team headed south with anything other than certainty in their heart that they would soon wave them off with another victory in the bag.

Sure, respect and all that, humility, nothing taken for granted, be humble and domination will follow (sic), but given that it is now 22 years since the All Blacks have lost at Eden Park in Auckland, their principal test-match venue, you would have to say they are entitled to a teeny weeny bit of presumptuousness.

But wake up Kiwis, that middle-of-the-night trembling is for real. The Lions have the look of a team about them, which is heartening news for us all, not the least of whom will be the Lions coaching team to be announced tomorrow (Andy Farrell, Steve Borthwick and Rob Howley in the box seats). And that is before the squad has even been picked.

The autumn series has thrown up new contender after contender, from England wing Jonny May to Ireland tighthead Tadhg Furlong via Scotland centre Huw Jones, all names that would not have featured heavily on anyone's list in October.

Second row is perhaps the Achilles heel of the All Blacks, as was seen when both long-standing incumbents, Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock, were injured for the match against Ireland in Chicago.

And the Lions? Take your pick from Maro Itoje (reputation still sky-high despite missing the autumn series), George Kruis, Courtney Lawes, playing his best rugby in a long time, or Joe Launchbury, ditto as per Lawes. And that is just England. Add to the mix the Gray brothers from Scotland, Alun Wyn Jones and Luke Charteris from Wales, Devin Toner, Iain Henderson and Donnacha Ryan from Ireland.

Yes, yes, you can only pick two of them at any given time but given that injury and fatigue will be an issue from players travelling from these parts, strength in depth is paramount. The Lions have it in spades.

There are many ingredients that go into a competitive Lions tour. Without any doubt the most important is selection. The schedule is unforgiving, the non-test opposition fearsome, the rest periods non-existent.

All these impediments can be overcome. Indeed, if you get the right people in charge - and three of the front-line coaches did a number on Australia in 2013 - and the right characters on the field, they will actually draw inspiration from the magnitude of the task, and be lifted rather than daunted by the odds.

It is a dangerous fallacy to believe that players might be overwhelmed by the seemingly insurmountable obstacles, from the fact that the Lions' first game is only three days after they land in the country (jet lag? For cissies) to the prospect of playing two of the three tests at impregnable Eden Park rather than rotating the series around other venues.

The Lions should be fired up by the difficulties. And, given the evidence of the past five weeks and the manner of the performances around the home nations, there is every reason to expect that they will be.

International players are used to excellent off-field facilities and care. They are elite athletes and deserve their bespoke environment. And yet. Within them all lies the feeling that the Lions ought to be different.

They want it to be special and unique, a mood-swing apart from the norm, be that mucking in with blokes who were fearsome rivals only a few weeks earlier to the notion that they may be expected to play Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday (if only bench duty) were there to be a run of injuries. A bit of hardship, of toughing it out with your new mates, is part of that experience. The bigger the challenge, the better the trip.

That did not happen the last time the Lions travelled to New Zealand, in 2005, when Clive Woodward tried a different slant of separate teams, staff and set-ups. That essential esprit de corps was lost, the camaraderie diluted. It was no surprise that the Lions were thumped. The All Blacks were not bad, to be fair. But the Lions did not really fire a shot in the series (though the midweek side were unbeaten), conceding 107 points in the three tests.

They look far better equipped in personnel and outlook this time around. Ireland have shown that, like any team, New Zealand are as prone to error and uncertainty if the right pressure is applied. Sean O'Brien, James Haskell or Sam Warburton to take it to the All Blacks at the breakdown, Billy Vunipola, Jamie Heaslip or Toby Faletau to carry the ball deep into the heart of their defence, with the ever-willing Chris Robshaw or CJ Stander riding shotgun? Riches galore.

The Lions will have to score tries to topple New Zealand but with Jonathan Joseph in the centre channel to tee up Welshmen George North or Liam Williams, or May or Anthony Watson come to that, with the pacy, wriggling Stuart Hogg at the rear, there is plenty to savour in terms of a potential red-shirted attack.

My one gripe with the Lions set-up is why there is not a three-line whip as to which coaches should be available to assist Warren Gatland. It is understandable that Gregor Townsend or Joe Schmidt or Eddie Jones should want to focus on their own national sides.

But the Lions have to have buy in from every administration be successful. The best of the best.

The players are chomping at the bit to be involved. That is what matters. In fact, even the Kiwis will be relishing the prospect.