Andy Farrell has been here before with the British and Irish Lions.
Twelve years ago he was an assistant to Warren Gatland as the Lions brought a 1-0 lead into the second Test in Melbourne, only for the tourists to show up lame in a tense and nervous affair, where Adam Ashley-Cooper scored the only try of the game on 74 minutes, to give Australia a 16-15 win.
Recent Lions history has shown how hard it is to repeat the physical and mental performances from a first Test win into a second, with South Africa in 2009 the last to have won the first two games of a Lions series.
Last week in Brisbane, the Lions came out flying with Tadhg Beirne and Tom Curry launching into the Wallabies from the first whistle, and the game was effectively won by half-time.
But Farrell doesn't believe it's inherently difficult to hit that same emotional pitch two weeks in a row.
"It shouldn't be [hard] because that's all here, in the head," the Lions head coach said on Thursday, after naming his side for the second Test in Melbourne.
"I suppose everyone is a human being. But if you look at it from an Australian point of view, they played the same 80 minutes, the same contest.
"It cannot be the case that they're more up for this game because they're in the exact same scenario.
"I honestly believe this is one of the biggest, if not the biggest game we have all been involved with so selection always matters in that regard until we get to the next one."
On paper, Saturday’s Test at the MCG looks far more evenly balanced, with the Wallabies pack considerably bolstered by the return to fitness of Rob Valetini, Will Skelton and Dave Porecki.
And while Australia are likely to be better with another week of rugby in their legs, Farrell is demanding improvement from his own team, who he admits had "a dip in focus" during the second half, after they had cruised out to a 24-5 lead.
"It wasn’t just one thing, it was a number of things and a dip in focus is probably what goes with that, the intent drops off a little bit and what that looks like to us might look something different to another team.
"During victory you get an opportunity to be unbelievably honest and show each other just how much you can improve and there has been nothing but that this week as far as honesty is concerned, about where we can get to.
"We certainly feel we left a few things out there, most aspects of our game will need to better but it is proving to ourselves it can be better as well.
"Doing things properly, that is what we have talked about all week, what it looks like for us and the expectation that it has to happen the majority of the time.
"We are realists, we are all human and we realise it is not going to be perfect all of the time, it is not going to be a perfect 85-minute performance but staying on it as much as we can will give us a better chance of getting what we want.
"This game might be completely different, we might have a role reversal and we have to adapt and be honest with ourselves and stay on point if we are in front, if we are behind, things going your way, not going your way. It is just staying honest as long as we possibly can."
Farrell’s opposite number Joe Schmidt remained optimistic after last Saturday’s game, clinging to the positives of their two late tries in the 27-19 defeat at Suncorp Stadium, while also knowing he would have three more forwards back on deck for the MCG.
However, while he repeated his pride in how his side fought back last week, Schmidt acknowledged that they can’t allow a repeat of last week’s first half, when they were bullied up front by the tourists.
"We don't want to be nice, and we don't want to be submissive," the Wallabies head coach said.
"I thought the First Nations Pasifika team did a fantastic job [on Tuesday], but after 31 minutes, they've conceded 13 line-breaks. If we do that in a Test match, we could be a lot further behind than the FNP team were on Tuesday evening.
"So we've got to make sure we get the balance right, that some of that aggressive line-speed that they brought, we've got to bring that, but we've also got to make sure that it's connected because when you leak like that and they can play in behind you, then it's very hard to get back in front of them. So 13 line breaks to two, after 30 minutes, we can't afford to have that stat.
"We didn't have the intention last week, and we don't have the intention this week of being submissive."
And the former Ireland boss believes a win against the Lions, in front of an expected 90,000 crowd at Australia’s most storied ground, could have a force-multiplier effect on his side going forward.
"I'd certainly love that to happen. I've been lucky to have been on the periphery of some fantastic outcomes over the last 20 years of coaching professionally, but this would be special.
"It'd be special for this group. I think it would accelerate a little bit of their growth as well, because in terms of gaining confidence, it's hard to top competing with the best.
"At the same time, it's like any sport. If you play against a team that are stacked and maybe have more experience than you do and have a richness of talent across the board, then that's how you start to extend your own performance.
"And I'd love to see some of the players really extend their own performances.
"I honestly felt we saw a little bit of it, particularly in that second half last Saturday, but also I'm a realist.
"I know that last Saturday will count for nothing at kick-off. Those last 25 minutes, we won't get to live those again - we've got to be able to create those again."
Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Follow a live blog of Australia v British and Irish Lions on Saturday from 11am on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app
