Coping with England's defensive approach was part of the All Blacks' preparation, and it came down to knowing what to expect and what they could do to create opportunities.
Coach Scott Robertson said that after what they experienced in Dunedin last week, they looked at what they think they can do to respond to it. With a few days of training to work on options, they have readied themselves as part of their overall plan to move forward.
"You can concentrate a little too much on the opposition at times, but we know they're coming."
Robertson said choosing the side this week was much less protracted than the exercise before the first Test.
"It was very straightforward."
The team was straight into its work this week and looking to improve its performance.
"We're going to finish opportunities a little better that we've created. A little bit of execution, a bit of game plan execution, thinking on our feet, but also going through with our game drivers making the right call at the right time."
There is more cohesion among the group.
"Everyone knows where the classroom is now. It's like the first week at school, isn't it? You take a while to get your bearing, and we've got that. There has been good rhythm this week."
The only change to the squad is halfback Cortez Ratima coming onto the bench, as Finlay Christie makes the start after TJ Perenara was ruled out with an injury.
Robertson's advice to Ratima was to be himself.
"He's extremely competitive. He likes to win everything. Once he'd been named, he just on with it. And he's got a good couple of mentors in front of him that he can learn off, and now's his opportunity."
The Eden Park factor was a minor factor in preparation.
He said the ground felt like home and had a natural feel to it, and the record built up had some expectations and good memories.
Robertson said, leaving Beauden Barrett to come off the bench again, he offered something, whether starting or being used as a substitute.
"Stephen [Perofeta] was exceptional, took his opportunity and gives us that balance of 10 [first five-eighths] and 15 [fullback] when we need to bring on Beauden and his experience. He understands the game so well and a couple of his early touches gave us the field position we needed at that time so we kept the balance as it is."
Robertson said that while comments had been made about the legality of the All Blacks' scrum packing, England could also have a conversation about it.
"It's a unique contest in our game. As soon as there's an arm that goes out, everyone's like, what's going to happen next? And a group of eight guys get excited about that opportunity. It can create dominance if you do it well, if you're all connected and show the picture that's required for that scrum.
"Jase Ryan has been around a while now and he's put a bit of expectation on our guys to get that right."
With his starting props Ethan de Groot and Tyrel Lomax, and substitutes Ofa Tu'ungafasi and Fraser Newell, the All Blacks had players who were ball players.
"They're big men, they've got good feet, they can play short at the line. You can see how mobile they are, and they can scrum.
"That's one thing we're excited about, the quality of the athletes that can scrum. It's unique."
They had also been applying themselves in their lineout response; an area in England enjoyed an advantage in the first Test.