Jerome Kaino feels decider against Lions feels like a World Cup final

New Zealand flanker Jerome Kaino believes the deciding Test against British and Irish Lions on Saturday has all the build up of a World Cup final.

Kaino was part of the New Zealand's starting line-up in the 2011 and 2015 World Cup finals as All Blacks claimed back to back titles at Eden Park and Twickenham respectively.

With the Lions bouncing back from their defeat in Auckland with a 21-24 victory in the second Test in Wellington, the 34-year-old believes the stage is set for the decider.

"With it being 1-1, it does have the feeling of a World Cup final, so I am getting excited about the prospect of being able to play," Kaino said.

"It definitely has that feel. I think the excitement we had at training today backs that up.

"The Lions are a great side, and there is a lot of history between these two teams.

"There has definitely been a bit of edge there (in training), but the guys are excited.

"We know the areas we need to improve on, and we know if we do that, then we will get the result we want."

Kaino was replaced in the 25th minute of the game in Wellington with Ngani Laumape in order to compensate for the red card to Sonny Bill Williams and the Blues star admitted that Lions had brought a lot of physicality - something that was missing in the first Test.

"I saw the Lions definitely step up in terms of physicalitty, and I thought we matched that at times," he added.

"Guys adapted on the go, and that was a positive for us. If we start the way we want to start in games, then we will go a long way to winning. It was a great game to be a part of and watch."

The infringements from both the teams were evident at Westpac Stadium with Beauden Barrett kicking seven penalties and missed three as well. Williams was sent-off in the second quarter while Mako Vunipola was sin-binned in the second half. Kaino believes staying disciplined will be the key to victory in the final Test.

"As you saw last weekend, both teams were quite keen to get amongst it," he said. "As we saw, discipline is a huge part of the game.

"We are not going to go in there and be cautious about anything. We have to impose ourselves physically like the Lions did, and that's definitely an area we want to improve on.

"I am sure they will improve, but we have to make sure we keep our discipline.

"We know a lot of things are spoken about in the week, but that's not a reason for us to hold back. We know we can play physically within the laws. We will let the referee interpret things how he sees them and do our job.

"There is always going to be feeling between these two teams. When we cross the white line we throw it out there, but once it's over, we dump it."