Can the New Zealand rugby team regain their spark this autumn?
Seeking what would be just a fifth tour victory in their storied history, the All Blacks have traveled to Europe at an pivotal moment.
Fixtures against Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales await Scott Robertson's side across the upcoming weeks but, quite aside from the chance to join the teams of 1978, 2005, 2008 and 2010 in the record books, the games will be used as a benchmark to assess the improvement of the squad under a leader now two years on from assuming control.
Present Difficulties
Doubts over a shortage of an identifiable style, ongoing discussions over player choices and leavings from the management team have all fueled the perception that the best-known side in the rugby is presently one in a time of change.
Most pertinently, it is the dip in results from a previous peak set between the World Cups of 2011 and 2019 that has prompted some to speculate that we have evolved beyond of the era of Kiwi superiority.
Past Performance
Prior to their journey for the European tour, it was revealed that next year, in the non-existence of the Rugby Championship, the All Blacks will face South Africa in a warm-weather tour called 'an unprecedented series'.
In the past the rugby's premier teams, there is no question over who has recently got the better of what marketers have described 'The Premier Rivalry'.
Over the past seven years, the South African team have claimed a pair of global tournaments, three Rugby Championships and a competition against the British and Irish Lions to be considered as the squad of their era.
New Zealand have persisted to beat Ireland when it matters most, defeating their next challengers in the tournament knockout stages of recent years. They have, additionally, been defeated in just a pair of the recent encounters with the English team, have defeated Wales in every encounter since the sixties and have always been victorious by the Scottish team.
Evolving Landscape
But the diminishment of their position as the game's gold standard will continue to rankle.
Whereas the All Blacks reigned supreme through the 2010s - winning eighty-seven percent of their fixtures, as well as lifting the global trophy on two occasions - the World Cup of the previous competition can now be viewed as when the hierarchical structure shifted in the international rugby.
The All Blacks defeated the Springboks in their opening match of the championship in the host nation, but it was the South Africans who were ultimately triumphant in the championship match.
From that point, the New Zealand's success rate has declined to 71%. South Africa themselves were defeated in 10 of their next 26 Test matches but, from the beginning of 2023, have achieved victory at a frequency (83%) to compete with even the previous All Blacks side.
Head-to-Head
Throughout the equivalent timeframe, the South African team have secured victory in five of the past fixtures between the teams, featuring triumph in the 2023 World Cup final.
During their pursuit of their latest continental championship, South Africa inflicted a record 43-10 defeat on the New Zealand team thanks to 36 unanswered second-half points in the capital, a result which has sparked another wave of discussion regarding the direction of the side under their leader.
Possibly most troubling for followers of the All Blacks will be that, alongside their traditional strength, the Springboks' achievement has come with an attacking verve more usually associated with their opposition team.
Team Identity
When the All Blacks were at the zenith of their powers in previous eras, they were a devastating offensive machine capable of destroying opponents from all areas of the pitch and at any point of the contest.
Today, their playing philosophy is less defined as Robertson, who has given 19 debuts during his recent tenure in control, tries to first establish the more prosaic core elements of a successful side.
It has recently revealed that the supporting manager in charge of attack, their offensive coordinator, will leave his role after the fall series, becoming the next individual of the coaching staff to depart after another coach walked away last year after just five Tests.
Expectations vs Reality
It was not merely his winning record, but his methodology, that was predicted to translate from Crusaders when he took over after the global competition but, as yet, the two aspects are still a work in progress.
Business Factors
Following financial organization investors acquired shares in New Zealand rugby in 2022, the subsequent announcement discussed the "pursuit of international expansion" for the organization.
That task has possibly been harder by the lack of a crossover star. The current captain and the trio of family members are still recognizable personalities in the game, but the spread of stars has expanded significantly. The captain is the sole All Black to earn global recognition in the past six seasons, in comparison to 10 in over a decade between the mid-2000s.
Global Expansion
Rather, initiatives have been made to transplant the New Zealand team into previously untapped markets.
The initial stage of this northern hemisphere series brings the All Blacks not to Dublin but Chicago, a revisit to the stadium where Ireland secured a landmark success in the match in previous seasons.
After the easing of health protocols, the New Zealand team have furthermore
