Will the All Blacks rediscover their winning form during the fall tour?
Seeking what would be just a fifth northern hemisphere clean sweep in their legendary past, the All Blacks have headed north at an interesting juncture.
Games against the Irish team, Scotland, the English squad and the Welsh team await Scott Robertson's side across the upcoming weeks but, beyond the opportunity to match the sides of previous successful tours in the annals of rugby, the fixtures will be used as a yardstick to assess the progress of the squad under a head coach now 24 months into from assuming control.
Present Difficulties
Questions over a lack of an clear playing identity, enduring debates over team picks and departures from the backroom staff have all added to the feeling that the most famous squad in the game is now one in a time of change.
Most pertinently, it is the decline in outcomes from a historic high watermark set between the World Cups of 2011 and 2019 that has caused some to theorize that we have moved out of the age of All Black exceptionalism.
Recent History
Prior to their travel for the fall series, it was revealed that next year, in the lack of the southern hemisphere competition, the All Blacks will face the Springboks in a off-season matches called 'a unique competition'.
Historically the sport's top competitors, there is little doubt over who has recently got the better of what promoters have called 'Rugby's Greatest Rivalry'.
Over the past seven years, the Springboks have claimed a pair of World Cups, three Rugby Championships and a series against the home nations team to be regarded as the team of their era.
The All Blacks have persisted to overcome Ireland when it counts most, overcoming their next challengers in the World Cup quarter finals of recent years. They have, at the same time, been defeated in just a couple of the past 21 meetings with the English team, have defeated the Welsh side in all matches since the sixties and have always been victorious by the Scottish team.
Evolving Landscape
But the loss of their standing as the rugby's benchmark will persist as an irritation.
While the All Blacks excelled through the last ten years - achieving 87% of their fixtures, as well as claiming the Webb Ellis on multiple times - the World Cup of 2019 can now be regarded as when the competitive landscape shifted in the international rugby.
The All Blacks overcame the Springboks in their initial fixture of the competition in Japan, but it was the South Africans who were eventually successful in the final.
Since then, the New Zealand's victory ratio has dropped to seventy-one percent. The Springboks themselves lost 10 of their subsequent fixtures but, commencing of last year, have won at a rate (eighty-three percent) to compete with even the former Kiwi champions.
Direct Competition
Over the comparable duration, the South African team have secured victory in five of the recent encounters between the teams, comprising triumph in the recent championship match.
In claiming their latest southern hemisphere crown, Rassie Erasmus' side delivered a record 43-10 defeat on the New Zealand team thanks to 36 unanswered second-half points in Wellington, a score which has triggered another round of debate regarding the development of the side under the coach.
Perhaps most jarring for supporters of the All Blacks will be that, combined with their traditional strength, the Springboks' success has come with an offensive flair more typically linked with their traditional rivals.
Playing Philosophy
When the All Blacks were at the height of their capabilities in previous eras, they were a clinical transition team equipped of destroying competitors from any part of the pitch and at all times of the game.
Today, their playing philosophy is more ambiguous as Robertson, who has awarded 19 debuts during his 24 months in control, tries to initially build the fundamental building blocks of a competitive squad.
It has recently revealed that the backroom staff member responsible for scoring, their offensive coordinator, will exit the team after the upcoming matches, becoming the second member of the coaching staff to leave after another coach left last year after just a handful of games.
Team Development
It was not just previous achievements, but his methodology, that was expected to carry over from previous club when he assumed control after the 2023 World Cup but, so far, both remain a continuous improvement.
Business Factors
Following investment group Silver Lake invested capital in All Blacks in the past, the following communication spoke of the "pursuit of worldwide growth" for the brand.
That objective has maybe been harder by the shortage of a crossover star. Their key player and the trio of family members remain well-known figures in the sport, but the distribution of talented players has never been spread wider. Savea is the sole All Black to earn international honors in the past six seasons, in comparison to ten awards in multiple seasons between previous generations.
Worldwide Reach
Rather, initiatives have been made to transplant the New Zealand team into previously untapped markets.
The initial stage of this 'Grand Slam' tour brings New Zealand not to Dublin but the American city, a comeback to the stadium where the Irish team achieved a historic win in the contest nine years ago.
Since the easing of health protocols, the All Blacks have also
