Will the All Blacks find their winning form this autumn?
Aiming for what would be just a fifth tour victory in their storied history, the New Zealand side have traveled to Europe at an pivotal moment.
Fixtures against the Irish team, Scotland, England and the Welsh team await the All Blacks across the coming month but, beyond the chance to equal the sides of previous successful tours in the history books, the matches will be used as a measure to evaluate the development of the side under a leader now well established from assuming control.
Team Issues
Questions over a absence of an identifiable style, enduring debates over team picks and exits from the backroom staff have all fueled the feeling that the most famous squad in the game is currently one in a time of change.
Most importantly, it is the decline in outcomes from a previous peak set between the World Cups of 2011 and 2019 that has prompted some to speculate that we have moved out of the age of Kiwi superiority.
Team Record
Before their journey for the European tour, it was confirmed that next year, in the lack of the southern hemisphere competition, New Zealand will meet the Springboks in a summer series dubbed 'a tour like no other'.
In the past the rugby's premier teams, there is little doubt over who has recently got the better of what promoters have labeled 'Rugby's Greatest Rivalry'.
During the last decade, the Springboks have won a couple of global tournaments, three southern hemisphere titles and a competition against the home nations team to be regarded as the side of their generation.
New Zealand have maintained to beat Ireland when it is crucial, overcoming this weekend's rivals in the World Cup quarter finals of 2019 and '23. They have, meanwhile, lost just two of the last fixtures with the English team, have overcome the Welsh side in all matches since the sixties 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.
Although the New Zealand team dominated through the 2010s - achieving 87% of their international games, as well as winning the Webb Ellis on multiple times - the World Cup of 2019 can now be seen as when the balance of power changed in the world sport.
The All Blacks overcame South Africa in their first game of the championship in the host nation, but it was the Boks' who were ultimately triumphant in Yokohama.
From that point, the All Blacks' success rate has dropped to 71%. South Africa themselves were defeated in ten of their next 26 Test matches but, commencing of 2023, have won at a percentage (83%) to compete with even the last great New Zealand team.
Direct Competition
Throughout the same period, the South African team have won five of the past fixtures between the teams, comprising victory in the latest global tournament decider.
During their pursuit of their current southern hemisphere crown, South Africa administered a significant beating on the New Zealand team through dominant performance in their home ground, a score which has ignited another round of controversy regarding the progress of the squad under their leader.
Maybe most concerning for fans of the All Blacks will be that, combined with their characteristic physicality, South Africa's success has come with an creative approach more typically linked with their traditional rivals.
Playing Philosophy
At the time that the All Blacks were at the zenith of their capabilities a decade past, they were a ruthless counter-attacking unit capable of shredding rivals from all areas of the playing surface and at all times of the contest.
Currently, their offensive approach is unclear as their leader, who has awarded 19 debuts during his two years in command, tries to primarily create the fundamental core elements of a competitive squad.
It has previously announced that the supporting manager responsible for offense, their offensive coordinator, will leave his role after the autumn tour, becoming the second member of the coaching staff to exit after another coach departed last year after just limited matches.
Expectations vs Reality
It was not just his winning record, but his methodology, that was expected to transfer from Crusaders when he assumed control after the global competition but, to date, each remain a work in progress.
Commercial Considerations
Following private equity firm Silver Lake invested capital in All Blacks in the past, the ensuing statement mentioned the "quest of worldwide growth" for the organization.
That task has possibly been more difficult by the shortage of a international celebrity. Their key player and the trio of Barrett brothers are still household names in the game, but the distribution of stars has never been spread wider. Their leader is the only All Black to win World Player of the Year in the current era, in opposition to ten awards in over a decade between the mid-2000s.
Worldwide Reach
Instead, efforts have been made to establish the All Blacks into new territories.
The first leg of this 'Grand Slam' tour brings New Zealand not to Dublin but the American city, a comeback to the location where the Irish team obtained a landmark success in the fixture during past tours.
After the easing of health protocols, the All Blacks have also
