Gray matters: Weather will have big part to play

When the Lions the All Blacks at the Cake Tin in 2005 it was the Dan Carter show in a 48-18 win. Photo / Photosport

Play enough rugby in Wellington and the weather will be front and centre on your game radar.

It can have a profound effect on matches as the forecasters are predicting for Saturday night and as any number of All Blacks will tell you.

When tests were played at Athletic Park, renowned fullback Don Clarke kicked a winning conversion against France in 1961 when he aimed along the 22m line and let the 130km wind bend the ball back through the posts.

In 1996, the All Blacks mocked atrocious muddy conditions and the Wallabies with an extraordinary display of skills to rack up six tries in their 43-6 victory.

Different storylines filled the previous decade when the Wallabies won by a point in 1986 and ended the All Blacks great winning streak in 1990 before the Lions squared the 1993 series when they marched to a 20-7 win against an erratic host performance.

When rugby in the capital moved downtown to the Cake Tin in 2000 and Athletic Park was turned into a retirement village, John Eales and the Wallabies spoiled the gala opening night with his final penalty kick.

Another blow to the nation's psyche came three years later when England lost two men to the bin but won 15-13 in difficult conditions amid refereeing ambiguities.

Forecasts suggest there will be more dodgy weather tomorrow and vague rulings from French referee Jerome Garces.

The All Blacks have a winning Cake Tin record in the 14 years since that loss to England and rising trust in their ability to see off the Lions and clinch this series, maybe with hefty dollops of the panache Daniel Carter and the All Blacks showed in their 48-18 clincher in 2005.

That came after the unseemly whining from coach Clive Woodward and his media adviser Alastair Campbell about the dangerous twin tackle from Tana Umaga and Keven Mealamu which took Lions skipper Brian O'Driscoll out of the tour.

New skipper Gareth Thomas and the players wanted to park the incident because they knew the All Blacks' response would be even more hurtful but Woodward and Campbell were dialled into loop dialogue.

The All Blacks brought their collective thunder from a menacing press conference when they all fronted to support Umaga and transferred that venom to the Cake Tin for a five-try onslaught and Carterfest to send the Power of Four into oblivion.

That annoyance is not prevalent on this tour however television and radio bulletins depict a rising level of bleating from Warren Gatland about issues.

His gripes about All Black illegalities did not sit well in a week when lock Ian Henderson was binned for a lifting tackle.

Coaching the Lions and uniting more than 40 players from four countries as they all search for test selection is a massive task and even more demanding against an All Black side with such a depth of talent and understanding.

Frustration is only a result away for every coach.

The Lions brought a great deal to Eden Park and we're told they prefer awkward conditions and a slower paced game which are at the core of conjecture about tomorrow.

There's no guarantee, but you can bet the inquiries will go to another level once this test is decided.