Lions Tour 2017: Read accepts biggest challenge - ABs will go for 80 minutes plus

All Blacks captain Kieran Read. Photo / Brett Phibbs.

It's test No98 for All Blacks captain Kieran Read and perhaps the most important of his career.

It's his chance, albeit on his return from a broken thumb which has kept him out of the game for six weeks, to make his mark in the post-Richie McCaw era in a test which ranks in importance somewhere near a World Cup final.

The British and Irish Lions need to win this one to have a realistic chance of winning the series. It's difficult to see them losing and then coming back and winning two on the trot in Wellington and back in Auckland, so Warren Gatland's men must be prepared to throw the metaphorical kitchen sink at it, and that's something Read and his men have been preparing for.

Read's leadership in the wake of the All Blacks' defeat by Ireland in Chicago last November was pretty important in terms of bouncing back from that shock to win in Dublin against the same opposition, but the onus really will be on a 31-year-old originally from down the road in Papakura to lead well and to play well too.

Asked today where this test compared with the others under his belt, Read said: "To be honest, this is probably the most important right now for me. It's a massive one, this series has been built as being pretty big and I think we've got to that point where both teams are raring to go.

"I can't wait for the challenge. The whole history of the Lions isn't lost on us as All Blacks. We love the opportunity."

Read, who said he hasn't worried about his thumb all week, knows what the Lions will bring; big, physical men intending to smash the All Blacks in the contact areas and set piece. But he is also experienced enough to know the Lions could bring the unexpected too.

The set piece pressure and line speed from the men in red goes without saying, and the All Blacks will attempt to counter that by doing the basics well. Their kicking game is likely to be used early in order to place the pressure back on the Lions.

"It will probably come down to doing the simple things well," Read said. "Playing at the right end of the field will help and obviously our set piece is pretty crucial."

Of the Lions' attempts to presumably slow the All Blacks' ball, he said: "It's the nature of the game, you want to slow down the opposition's ball. We'll be expecting that. Whoever dominates that set piece, ruck area, will have a strong chance of winning the game. It's something we'll be aware but we'll be looking at what we can do ourselves to quicken that ball up and obviously slow down their ball as well.

"It comes down to a few moments, it comes down to which teams win those tough moments in test matches - the set piece, getting off the line, ensuring we win a dominant battle. If you look at the Lions they've got a team that can do that so we're going to have to be pretty physical ourselves and look to create opportunities."

Read added: "They're bloody good players in their own right and they play in their own style. As I said this test match will come down to who wants to put their body on the line for the longest - for 80 minutes or 80-plus. From our point of view we're happy to go there if it ends up at that point."

The challenge has been accepted. As for the Lions, they're confident they have the game to stretch the All Blacks' defence too.

Assistant coach Rob Howley said: "We are where we want to be. I think if you look at how many times we've been held up over the try-line, it's been eight times. I think we're in a good place, if we weren't creating line breaks I'd be a worried man sitting here.

"The challenge against the world champions on Saturday is that when we create [chances], and there won't be that many, we need to be clinical and ruthless."