🔗 Share this article

Pursuing what would be just a fifth 'Grand Slam' in their illustrious legacy, the All Blacks have traveled to Europe at an crucial period.

Games against Ireland, the Scottish side, England and the Welsh team await Scott Robertson's side across the next four weekends but, quite aside from the possibility to match the teams of 1978, 2005, 2008 and 2010 in the annals of rugby, the matches will be used as a measure to assess the improvement of the team under a manager now two years on from beginning his tenure.

Present Difficulties

Questions over a absence of an distinctive approach, ongoing discussions over team picks and leavings from the coaching ticket have all fueled the sense that the most famous squad in the rugby is currently one in a period of transition.

Most importantly, it is the decline in results from a past excellence set between the global tournaments of 2011 and 2019 that has led some to theorize that we have transitioned away of the era of New Zealand dominance.

Team Record

Ahead of their travel for the fall series, it was confirmed that during the following season, in the lack of the southern hemisphere competition, New Zealand will meet the Springboks in a summer series called 'a unique competition'.

In the past the game's two strongest sides, there is little doubt over who has lately dominated of what organizers have called 'The Ultimate Contest'.

Over the past seven years, the South African team have secured a pair of global tournaments, three Rugby Championships and a competition against the northern hemisphere selection to be viewed as the side of their era.

The All Blacks have persisted to overcome the Irish team when it matters most, defeating Saturday's opponents in the World Cup quarter finals of 2019 and '23. They have, additionally, lost just two of the last fixtures with England, have overcome Wales in all matches since the sixties and have remained unbeaten by Scotland.

Shifting Balance

But the decline of their standing as the game's gold standard will continue to rankle.

Although the All Blacks dominated through the previous decade - achieving eighty-seven percent of their fixtures, as well as lifting the global trophy on multiple times - the global tournament of 2019 can now be seen as when the hierarchical structure shifted in the international rugby.

The All Blacks beat the Springboks in their initial fixture of the tournament in the host nation, but it was the Boks' who were finally victorious in the final.

Since then, the All Blacks' victory ratio has declined to 71%. South Africa themselves lost 10 of their subsequent fixtures but, since the start of last year, have achieved victory at a frequency (83%) to compete with even the former Kiwi champions.

Head-to-Head

During the equivalent timeframe, the 'Boks have secured victory in five of the recent encounters between the opponents, including success in the 2023 World Cup final.

While securing their most recent continental championship, the Springboks delivered a significant beating on the All Blacks through 36 unanswered second-half points in their home ground, a score which has sparked another round of debate about the progress of the squad under Robertson.

Possibly most jarring for followers of the New Zealand team will be that, alongside their traditional strength, the Springboks' triumph has come with an offensive flair more usually associated with their own side.

Style Evolution

At the time that the All Blacks were at the height of their capabilities a decade past, they were a ruthless counter-attacking unit capable of shredding rivals from all areas of the pitch and at any moment of the match.

Currently, their attacking style is more ambiguous as the coach, who has awarded multiple new players during his two years in control, tries to initially build the basic building blocks of a successful side.

It has previously announced that the assistant coach in charge of attack, the current coach, will exit the team after the autumn tour, becoming the next individual of management team to leave after previous staff member departed last year after just a handful of games.

Expectations vs Reality

It was not just Robertson's success, but his approach, that was predicted to transfer from his former team when he began his tenure after the global competition but, to date, the two aspects are still a ongoing development.

Commercial Considerations

When private equity firm investors invested capital in New Zealand rugby in 2022, the subsequent announcement discussed the "search of new global opportunities" for the organization.

That task has maybe been harder by the shortage of a international celebrity. Ardie Savea and the trio of family members are still household names in the sport, but the concentration of key individuals has expanded significantly. Savea is the only All Black to receive global recognition in the past six seasons, in opposition to 10 in 13 years between 2005 and '07.

Worldwide Reach

Instead, initiatives have been undertaken to establish the All Blacks into new territories.

The first leg of this northern hemisphere series brings the All Blacks not to the Irish capital but Chicago, a revisit to the stadium where the Irish team obtained a landmark success in the fixture nine years ago.

Following the reduction of Covid-19 travel restrictions, the New Zealand team have furthermore