British and Irish Lions centre Robbie Henshaw is relishing the physical confrontation of playing the All Blacks.
All Blacks legend Zinzan Brooke has said in recent weeks that this Lions squad lacks the necessary 'mongrel' edge needed to compete with the New Zealanders, pointing specifically to number eight Taulupe Faletau.
Despite boasting an array of attacking talents, the All Blacks combine their flair and creativity with a physicality that sometimes
borders on intimidatory tactics.
A famous example of this intimidation was the spear tackle bestowed by Tana Umaga and Kevin Mealamu on Brian O'Driscoll
which ended then-captain O'Driscoll's tour in 2005.
But Henshaw, singled out by former Lions coach Sir Ian McGeechan as a key player, believes this Lions side have the necessary physicality to match up to the All Blacks.
"It's all part of it," Henshaw told Stuff.
"To have that bit of niggle in rugby is needed and it gets both teams going. Me personally, I do like a bit of niggle in the game and it makes it more exciting to be involved in. The higher the physicality, the better for me.
"We tried to prime ourselves for what was to come and the onslaught as they were hurting from the first game.
"It's going to be similar down there and we need to try our best to get off to a great start and do the business on them. There's a lot of work to be done before then. Mentally we need to be prepared, it'll be a mental battle down there."
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