Phew. After all that angst and concern, it turns out All Blacks fullback Ben Smith hasn't even had a concussion issue at all this season.

No one will be more relieved about that than Smith himself and his wife Katie, because it means he can now carry on as one of the very best fullbacks that play this game of rugby without wondering if he wasn't doing himself some sort of permanent damage.

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen revealed at the end of his press conference in Auckland on Thursday that Smith's issues this season had in fact been diagnosed as an inner-ear problem, and that he had not actually been experiencing concussion symptoms at all.

HANNAH PETERS/GETTY IMAGES. Ben Smith has been diagnosed with an inner ear problem and cleared of concussion symptoms.

He is now fully cleared of all symptoms, and has rejoined the team in Auckland, where he was due to join them for their main Tuesday afternoon training session ahead of Saturday's deciding third test against the British and Irish LIons at Eden Park.

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Smith has not been available for selection for the last two tests of this compelling series, with Israel Dagg deputising at fullback last week in Wellington, and 20-year-old rookie Jordie Barrett stepping in for his first test start at No 15 for the Eden Park decider.

"Bender had some tests done over the last seven or eight days in Dunedin, and he has been cleared of concussion," Hansen told a heavily attended press conference at the team's inner-city hotel.

"He doesn't have a concussion problem, and he wasn't knocked out

"What he does have is an inner-ear malfunction which was causing him to get a bit of vertigo and dizziness. That has now cleared. He's coming back up and he's going to be around the boys and train today."

Hansen said the clarity around what had been a worrying set of responses to suspected head knocks this season was a major relief for all concerned.

"It's great news for Bender and Katie, and takes a weight off their shoulders knowing what we've deemed to be concussion two or three times this year was actually another problem and they've now been able to identify and medicate and fix."

Smith, who is the All Blacks' vice-captain, left the field in the first test at Eden Park, raising concerns he had been concussed for the third time this season.

The All Blacks continue to take a no-risks approach to anything resembling a head knock among their players.

Despite an All Blacks spokesman saying previously that there had been no injury issues around the naming of the team for the third test against the LIons, Hansen made a liar out of that person on Thursday by confirming Waisake Naholo had not been considered for selection because of the head knock he had taken during the second test and that Rieko Ioane had also been ruled out because of illness.

"Rieko wasn't considered because he's been crook all week and hasn't been able to train with us, and whilst Waisake passed the protocols for concussion, the doctor and selectors don't feel we should be risking a player so soon after concussion, so we've given him another week to recover," Hansen said.

"We could have played [Naholo] if we really wanted to but concussion is an important thing we and we just want to give him another week to make sure."