The favourites, winners of the last two editions of the Rugby World Cup, dealt a damaging blow to the Lions team consisting of players from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Codie Taylor scored the opening try of the test, with Rieko Ioane adding a further two tries in the second half.

While Sean O'Brien and Rhys Webb went over for the Lions, with the former finishing off a stunning counter attack, New Zealand justified their favourites tag by achieving a comfortable 30-15. 

It leaves the Lions needing to win the final two tests if they are to win a tour in New Zealand for only the second time, with the first having come back in 1971.

The task of overturning the deficit looks a mighty one already, especially when you take into account that the final test will be taking place at Eden Park. Yesterday’s victory saw New Zealand extend their unbeaten streak at the 50,000 capacity venue in Auckland.

Their last defeat at the country’s largest stadium came on July 3, 1994. A French team secured a 2-0 series with by triumphing 23-20, scoring tries through Jean-Luc Sadourny and Emile Ntamack.

Since then, the All Blacks have played 39, won 38 and drawn one. South Africa held them to an 18-18 draw back in 1994. New Zealand’s unbeaten streak at the venue includes the 2011 Rugby World Cup, where they narrowly beat France 8-7 at the venue. They have not lost there since rugby became professional back in 1995.

Their staggering record got my thinking of other similar, but perhaps not quite as impressive home records and advantages.

The immediate home advantage that sprang to mind was the Hernando Siles stadium in La Paz. Serving as Bolivia’s national stadium, the venue is located at 11,932 feet above sea level. While Bolivia have appeared at for just three FIFA World Cups, only qualifying once, their home venue has proved one of the trickiest and most unwelcome assignments in South American qualification, wiith opponents having not had the chance to become acclimatised to the same extent as their opponents.

The stadium was the scene of Brazil’s first World Cup qualifying defeat in over 40 years when Bolivia beat them 2-0 on route to reaching the 1994 tournament in the United States. Bolivia lost the return leg in Brazil 6-0 just a month later.

Argentina, managed by Diego Maradona, suffered a 6-1 defeat in Bolivia during the qualification campaign for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, matching their worst defeat in history. While Bolivia failed to win away from home across the 2006 to 2014 qualifying campaigns, they enjoyed 10 home victories.

FIFA had intervened in 2007 following complaints the high altitude gave Bolivian, Colombia and Ecuador an unfair advantage. In some cases players had to take oxygen by the side of the pitch. A ban proved a short-lived affair but the controversy even saw Bolivian President Evo Morales campaign against preventing teams from playing at altitude.

When discussing home advantage, it would also be remiss not to consider cricket. Debate will also invariably turn towards spin bowling and how to combat it, any time the England cricket team are due to head to the Indian sub-continent.

Often it is viewed as one of the greatest challenges for English batsmen when they are forced to face high quality spin bowlers, particularly against India. Naturally, the pitches have been prepared to benefit the home team as much as possible, with cracks and dust on the pitch offering up maximum opportunity to turn the ball and deceive the batsman.

By contrast, when Asian nations head to England, the pitches become rather green to aid the swing bowlers the hosts seem to quite readily produce.

In December, I enjoyed a brief tour of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Academy in Dubai, where this exact situation was highlighted. The ICC showed a series of pitches they had carefully nurtured, which would provide vastly different challenges for batsman.

It was explained that their facility was often frequented by national teams, from junior to senior level, as they headed to play tournaments on different sides of the world. 

While providing a handy stop off point, teams would be able to mimic the pitches they would be facing in the coming days, where the dusty tracks of the sub-continent, the swinging conditions in England or the bouncing pitches of Australia, where fast bowlers have thrived.

Tennis is provides another example of where the surface can heavily influence the level of performance of a player. Despite winning the Australia, French and US Open titles so far in his career, Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka has yet to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon during his career. His compatriot Roger Federer has a different relationship with the surface, with seven of his Grand Slam titles coming on the surface.

The difference in the ball’s speed off the surface and bounce clearly differences across each surface, naturally suiting one players game, while hindering another. It was interesting in the build-up to the French Open to hear the thoughts of Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska, a winner of the junior edition of the event in 2006.

Radwanska acknowledged that she had grown up playing on clay courts but, having realised that 90 per cent of the tour season was not contested on the surface, began to adapt her game to suit different courts. Radwanska since admitted she now struggles to run as effectively on the clay, reducing one of her greatest assets.

Although no player actually enjoys a home advantage in tennis, the closest to having one is Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros. Having achieved "La Decima", his 10th French Open title earlier this month, it is hard to argue with the "King of Clay" moniker.

While there is a clear physiological advantage for the likes of Bolivia, cricket teams and Nadal to feel at home, it is apparent that the conditions can play a key factor.