Will the New Zealand rugby team regain their winning form in the upcoming matches?
Seeking what would be just a fifth 'Grand Slam' in their legendary past, the New Zealand side have embarked on their tour at an pivotal moment.
Fixtures against Ireland, Scotland, the English squad and the Welsh team await the New Zealand team across the upcoming weeks but, quite aside from the possibility to join the sides of 1978, 2005, 2008 and 2010 in the record books, the fixtures will be used as a measure to measure the development of the team under a head coach now well established from taking up the reins.
Current Challenges
Concerns over a lack of an identifiable style, continuing controversies over selection and leavings from the management team have all added to the sense that the best-known side in the rugby is currently one in a period of transition.
Most importantly, it is the drop in results from a previous peak set between the global tournaments of 2011 and 2019 that has caused some to suggest that we have moved out of the period of Kiwi superiority.
Past Performance
Prior to their departure for the fall series, it was revealed that in the coming year, in the lack of the Rugby Championship, the All Blacks will play the Springboks in a off-season matches termed 'a unique competition'.
Traditionally the sport's top competitors, there is clear agreement over who has lately dominated of what marketers have called 'The Ultimate Contest'.
In recent seasons, the Springboks have claimed a pair of World Cups, three southern hemisphere titles and a series against the home nations team to be viewed as the team of their era.
New Zealand have continued to overcome the Irish team when it matters most, defeating their next challengers in the global competition of 2019 and '23. They have, meanwhile, been defeated in just a pair of the recent encounters with England, have defeated Wales in each game since over sixty years ago and have never suffered defeat by the Scottish team.
Shifting Balance
But the decline of their position as the rugby's benchmark will continue to rankle.
While the New Zealand team dominated through the last ten years - winning 87% of their international games, as well as winning the global trophy on two occasions - the World Cup of 2019 can now be viewed as when the balance of power shifted in the international rugby.
New Zealand overcame the Springboks in their opening match of the tournament in the host nation, but it was the South Africans who were ultimately triumphant in Yokohama.
After that event, the New Zealand's winning percentage has fallen to 71%. South Africa themselves lost ten of their next 26 Test matches but, commencing of last year, have won at a frequency (eighty-three percent) to compete with even the last great New Zealand team.
Recent Encounters
Throughout the same period, the Springboks have won five of the past fixtures between the teams, featuring success in the recent championship match.
In claiming their current regional title, Rassie Erasmus' side inflicted a significant beating on the All Blacks through dominant performance in the capital, a outcome which has triggered another wave of discussion concerning the direction of the side under Robertson.
Maybe most jarring for fans of the New Zealand team will be that, combined with their traditional strength, the Springboks' achievement has come with an attacking verve more typically linked with their opposition team.
Style Evolution
During the period when the All Blacks were at the zenith of their abilities a decade past, they were a clinical transition team able of dismantling rivals from every section of the playing surface and at any point of the contest.
Now, their playing philosophy is unclear as the coach, who has awarded numerous first caps during his two years in command, tries to primarily create the basic core elements of a competitive squad.
It has previously announced that the backroom staff member responsible for scoring, the current coach, will depart his position after the upcoming matches, becoming the second member of Robertson's ticket to leave after Leon MacDonald departed last year after just five Tests.
Expectations vs Reality
It was not just Robertson's success, but his style, that was expected to carry over from Crusaders when he took over after the global competition but, as yet, the two aspects are still a continuous improvement.
Commercial Considerations
When investment group investors invested capital in All Blacks in 2022, the following communication spoke of the "search of new global opportunities" for the brand.
That task has maybe been harder by the lack of a crossover star. Their key player and the group of family members remain household names in the rugby, but the concentration of key individuals has never been spread wider. Their leader is the single All Black to earn international honors in the current era, in comparison to 10 in over a decade between 2005 and '07.
Worldwide Reach
Rather, efforts have been implemented to introduce the New Zealand team into previously untapped markets.
The opening phase of this 'Grand Slam' tour brings New Zealand not to Dublin but the American city, a comeback to the location where Ireland obtained a first ever victory in the fixture during past tours.
Following the reduction of pandemic limitations, the All Blacks have furthermore
