But tonight is special.
Something to prick the ears up — the All Blacks are taking on the British and Irish Lions.
After a build-up of who is going to do to what, when and how, which has seemingly taken years and killed many trees of newsprint in the process, all claims to which side is the better will be answered at Eden Park tonight.
It has been 12 long years since the Lions and the All Blacks played a test.
Plenty of water has flowed under the bridge since then. But time does not change some things.
The home team is the one to beat. It goes into the game as favourite and rightly so.A quick look at the facts shows the Lions do not have history on their side.
In the past four tours here they have won only two of 14 tests. The hype of the Lions is not backed up by the results.
The game is evolving and the Lions do appear to be picking up the pace as the tour goes on.But playing the All Blacks is a different beast.
It is not rolling up against an undermanned and naive Chiefs outfit. Or facing a Maori All Blacks side which seemed to put more work into the haka than tactics and combination.
These All Blacks are primed and ready to go.
They are driven to succeed and fresh off running over Samoa last week, are champing at the bit to take on the Lions.
All Black captain Kieran Read said the side was driven by the desire to win rather than the fear of losing.
"There is always pressure on us and we don’t mind pressure. Losing would be pretty bad. Every time we lose is something we don’t like," he said.
"So we just want to go out and play our own game. Our perspective is the challenge. We know it is going to be a massive challenge. This group here, we want to take that head on and embrace it."
Performance comes first. Worrying about winning would take away from doing the job on the field.
With the Lions playing a game in which they sit on the opposition and try to jump on any mistakes it is going to be up to the All Blacks to win the game.
The Lions have shown they do not favour playing a lot of rugby and look just as dangerous without the ball as with it.
So it is up to the home team to create the chances and convert them. It has the stars to do that job — a tight five eager to show its worth backed up by quality loose forwards who will not back down.
Then out the back are seven lethal game-breakers if given the space and time. Beauden Barrett, Sonny Bill Williams and Ben Smith are some of the best line-breakers in the sport.It is up to the Lions to stop them.
How they do that may well define the test. Actually how much latitude they are given to show their wares will go a long way to decide the outcome.
Everyone was playing the diplomat yesterday but referee Jaco Peyper is going to be a key figure in the game. If he allows space for players to roam, the All Blacks should prevail. If not, it could be close. Importantly, the weather is expected to clear mid-afternoon today but the ball should still be greasy.
All Black first five-eighth Aaron Cruden has been cleared to play after getting over a knee injury.