It is entirely beyond reason that the perception continues to exist, particularly up North, that the All Blacks are vulnerable at set piece and in their general grunt work.
Such a view doesn't have a shred of evidence to support it, but nonetheless, since 2004, a procession of teams have travelled to New Zealand convinced they are going to be able to beat up the All Blacks.
They come with their blunt instruments, hard hats on and a conviction that if they roll their sleeves up it won't take long before the All Blacks are lying in pieces in front of them, disassembled and essentially broken.
The Lions of 2005 came to New Zealand with no other thought in their heads, than if they turned up and walloped the All Blacks hard in the first test, that would be that.
It was utter nonsense of course. The Lions ran into a brick wall. They went clunk and lots of bits and pieces fell off and the All Blacks' dominance in the forward exchanges was total.
There was a kind of post Apocalyptic feel to tests two and three with the visitors trying to recover from the carnage of the first.
But that series didn't act as a deterrent and plenty of other teams have fallen into the trap of seeing things the same way. The French, the English, the Boks, even the Wallabies over the last 13 years or so have imagined they will be able to inflict untold damage in the core areas of scrum, collision and lineout.
Yet for all that these teams have believed in their muscular superiority, none have been able to prove it - including the current Lions.
Much like their predecessors, they built their plan prior to arrival on the premise they could poke a hole in the soft underbelly of the All Blacks' tight five.
They picked big men in their squad, then their biggest and most scary for the first test with a clear view to try to crush the All Blacks scrum, destroy their lineout and own them in the collisions.
History repeated, though, and once again it was the All Blacks tight five who were dominant - producing the game-winning moment with an enormous scrum.
"Tonight's test was always going to be won in the tight five and I think we won that battle," said All Blacks coach Steve Hansen.
"We have got to be extremely proud of what we did. You don't become the number one side in the world for as long as we have been - and I don't want to sound like we are bragging here - without a very good tight five.
"I always find it amusing when everyone tells us they are going to beat us up in the tight five. We are not just a team that plays flashy rugby. I think we can play down and dirty rugby too if we have to and I mean that in the most respectful way."
In the wake of such an epic response, there would be good reason for the All Blacks tight five to take their moment in the sun and perhaps shine their light back at the Lions and all those who continue to doubt them.
But the prevailing view within the tight five cabal is that firstly the job is only half done and secondly, performance is far more eloquent than words.
They would also rather not let on that the continual commentaries - direct and implied - are quite a handy tool to help them get in the right head space.
Motivation at this level is always intrinsic, but the All Blacks coaching staff don't mind at all that their tight five are constantly under scrutiny and running out with a little extra personal desire to make their presence felt.
Whatever the players may think privately, publicly being continually under rated and targeted is not a source of frustration says tighthead prop Owen Franks. He understands why it happens and it's more, he thinks, because opposition teams from North of the Equator especially, have a different attitude that they don't easily suspect the All Blacks' share.
"It is just the difference of styles you know," he says. "In the UK they look to get dominance and psychological edge with the scrum. Some teams in New Zealand are just really efficient at getting good ball from the scrum for their backs to play off.
"I don't think it necessarily means you are not a good at scrummaging you just play off it a different way."
The Lions learned the hard way at Eden Park that if the All Blacks feel the need, they can scrummage for penalties. They can also make giant in-roads using the likes of Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock to hit the ball up in the middle of the field.
With the likes of Beauden Barrett, Sonny Bill Williams and Rieko Ioane weaving their particular brand of magic, it may superficially look like the All Blacks are all about their dash rather than their bash.
But that's the picture the All Blacks want opponents to believe they are looking at. The truth is more as prop Wyatt Crockett explains it: "We want to make sure that we front up and don't let them dominate us," he says.
"It has been talked about over the last three or four weeks in particular and the coaches have demanded that we get the job done up front."
