With Steve Hansen's All Blacks it pays not to make generalisations.
For instance, that just because they've got more centurions than some Roman legions, they're an ageing unit. Think again.
Actually they're getting younger – almost by the day. And that's thanks to an ever-increasing injection of talent from the very special group that was the 2011 world champion New Zealand under-20 team.
The touring All Blacks possess no fewer than nine graduates from that fine side, the fourth straight Kiwi team to claim the world title, but also the last.
They are: Beauden Barrett, TJ Perenara, Charles Piutau and Francis Saili in the backs; and up front Dominic Bird, Sam Cane, Steve Luatua, Brodie Retallick and Luke Whitelock.
It's not difficult to close your eyes and imagine a fair swag of them having big parts to play in the long-term future of New Zealand rugby.
When you consider that two others – giant prop Ben Tameifuna and bruising loose forward Brad Shields – are also knocking on the door of the national squad, that's an incredible wave of talent from one very special year.
They represent the youthful side of an All Blacks squad that also has four test centurions and several others moving fast towards that magic number.
Thanks to the young 'uns the average age of this all-conquering squad has dropped to about 25 or 26.
"Sometimes there's a group of players coming through that are pretty special," All Blacks assistant coach Ian Foster said.
"The under-20 programme for us is an important little step. When the boys come out of high school into the provincial academies, and then get rewarded into the under-20s, it's like their first real opportunity to get exposed to the high-performance side of New Zealand rugby.
"We enjoy exposing them to a pretty complete programme and that particular group blossomed in that environment."
Of that swag of 2011 talent, Retallick is the only one to have forged a regular starting spot, though Piutau, Barrett, Cane and Luatua are all making regular, and consistent, contributions in 2013. The remainder no doubt await their chances.
Cane, who has emerged as a viable backup to Richie McCaw on the openside flank, said he had sensed it was a special squad when they came together for the 2011 tournament in Italy.
