'All Blacks supporters will not even be contemplating defeat on Saturday'

Former All Black Nick Evans says there will be a “period of national mourning” in New Zealand should the British and Irish Lions triumph in Saturday’s deciding Test.

Steve Hansen’s side won by a comfortable margin in the series opener at Eden Park, only to be pegged back in Wellington last weekend when the Lions triumphed 24-21 following Sonny Bill Williams’ first-half dismissal.

That victory for the tourists has set up a fascinating finale back in Auckland and Evans, whose last Test appearance came in New Zealand’s shock Rugby World Cup quarter-final defeat to France in 2007, says defeat is not an option for the world’s top-ranked side.

“All Blacks supporters will not even be contemplating defeat on Saturday,” wrote Evans in his column for the Guardian.

“I have been involved in similar circumstances, when we lost to France at the 2007 World Cup when no one saw it coming, and just like back then, there would be a period of national mourning and the inquest would start.”

?"We've got a lot more to come…"?@elliotdaly looks ahead to #NZLvBIL ? https://t.co/YXJfqAn5es#LionsNZ2017 #AllForOne pic.twitter.com/s3hONxnTpE

— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) July 7, 2017

Evans expects increased intensity from New Zealand this weekend, as they aim to bounce back from their surprising loss at Westpac Stadium.

“They had a similar situation when they lost to Ireland in Chicago [in 2016]; they had the opportunity to come out and put things right,” he added.

“They were hugely physical in that game, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the All Blacks be that physical and they ground Ireland down.

“I’m not sure if they’ll approach it the same way against the Lions but we haven’t seen the shackles off New Zealand yet; we haven’t seen them really hit that top gear, in broken field with offload after offload, turning defence to attack straight away.

“We’ve got to expect a massive All Blacks reaction and I’m sure there will be but it’ll come down to how the game flows. The stop-start nature of the last game suited the Lions.

“I would imagine the All Blacks would want to create a game with a lot of tempo, a lot of fluidity, then get into their shape and patterns to get that the connection with the backs. As for the Lions, they will try and do what they did in Wellington.

“Losing a home series is not something the All Blacks are used to. Fingers will be pointed, a lot of people will have to have a long hard look at where things went wrong and the public would be exactly the same. As an All Blacks fan, it doesn’t bear thinking about.”