Will the All Blacks find their winning form this autumn?
Aiming for what would be just a fifth northern hemisphere clean sweep in their legendary past, the New Zealand side have headed north at an interesting juncture.
Fixtures against Ireland, Scotland, the English squad and the Welsh team await the New Zealand team across the next four weekends but, in addition to the chance to equal the teams of previous successful tours in the history books, the fixtures will be used as a measure to evaluate the improvement of the squad under a leader now 24 months into from assuming control.
Present Difficulties
Doubts over a absence of an identifiable style, enduring debates over selection and leavings from the backroom staff have all contributed to the feeling that the most famous squad in the game is presently one in a time of change.
Most pertinently, it is the dip in outcomes from a historic high watermark set between the World Cups of the last decade that has prompted some to speculate that we have moved out of the age of All Black exceptionalism.
Team Record
Ahead of their departure for the fall series, it was revealed that next year, in the lack of the Rugby Championship, the All Blacks will face the Springboks in a summer series dubbed 'a unique competition'.
Historically the game's two strongest sides, there is clear agreement over who has lately dominated of what organizers have labeled 'Rugby's Greatest Rivalry'.
Over the past seven years, the Springboks have secured a couple of World Cups, three Rugby Championships and a tour against the British and Irish Lions to be viewed as the side of their period.
New Zealand have continued to defeat Ireland when it counts most, defeating Saturday's opponents in the global competition of 2019 and '23. They have, additionally, lost just two of the recent encounters with the English team, have overcome the Welsh side in every encounter since over sixty years ago and have remained unbeaten by the Scottish team.
Changing Dynamics
But the decline of their position as the game's gold standard will persist as an irritation.
Whereas the New Zealand team dominated through the last ten years - achieving eighty-seven percent of their Test matches, as well as lifting the Webb Ellis on several instances - the World Cup of the previous competition can now be seen as when the hierarchical structure shifted in the world sport.
The All Blacks beat the Springboks in their first game of the competition in the host nation, but it was the Boks' who were finally victorious in the championship match.
After that event, the All Blacks' winning percentage has declined to 71%. South Africa themselves lost 10 of their next 26 Test matches but, since the start of last year, have won at a rate (eighty-three percent) to compete with even the previous All Blacks side.
Recent Encounters
Throughout the equivalent timeframe, the 'Boks have won five of the past fixtures between the sides, featuring success in the recent championship match.
In claiming their current continental championship, South Africa delivered a historic loss on the All Blacks through dominant performance in their home ground, a outcome which has ignited another round of discussion about the development of the side under their leader.
Possibly most troubling for followers of the New Zealand team will be that, allied to their traditional strength, South Africa's triumph has come with an offensive flair more commonly connected with their opposition team.
Playing Philosophy
At the time that the All Blacks were at the peak of their abilities a decade past, they were a clinical transition team equipped of shredding rivals from any part of the field and at all times of the match.
Currently, their offensive approach is more ambiguous as the coach, who has handed out numerous first caps during his 24 months in command, tries to initially build the more prosaic building blocks of a successful side.
It has recently revealed that the backroom staff member in charge of attack, Jason Holland, will depart his position after the autumn tour, becoming the next individual of management team to depart after Leon MacDonald walked away last year after just five Tests.
Team Development
It was not just Robertson's success, but his approach, that was predicted to transfer from Crusaders when he began his tenure after the 2023 World Cup but, as yet, both remain a work in progress.
Business Factors
When investment group investors acquired shares in All Blacks in the past, the ensuing statement spoke of the "quest of international expansion" for the team.
That objective has maybe been harder by the shortage of a international celebrity. Ardie Savea and the collection of related players continue to be household names in the rugby, but the concentration of talented players has never been spread wider. Their leader is the only All Black to win World Player of the Year in the recent years, in comparison to ten awards in multiple seasons between the mid-2000s.
Worldwide Reach
Rather, efforts have been implemented to establish the New Zealand team into emerging regions.
The initial stage of this 'Grand Slam' tour brings New Zealand not to Dublin but the American city, a revisit to the location where Ireland secured a historic win in the fixture in previous seasons.
After the reduction of health protocols, the All Blacks have also
