Can the New Zealand rugby team find their winning form during the fall tour?
Aiming for what would be just a fifth 'Grand Slam' in their storied history, the New Zealand side have embarked on their tour at an interesting juncture.
Games against Ireland, Scotland, the English squad and the Welsh team await the All Blacks across the upcoming weeks but, quite aside from the possibility to equal the squads of 1978, 2005, 2008 and 2010 in the record books, the matches will be used as a yardstick to assess the development of the side under a leader now well established from beginning his tenure.
Team Issues
Concerns over a lack of an distinctive approach, continuing controversies over team picks and departures from the coaching ticket have all added to the perception that the most famous squad in the rugby is currently one in a state of flux.
Most pertinently, it is the decline in results from a past excellence set between the World Cups of 2011 and 2019 that has led some to suggest that we have transitioned away of the age of Kiwi superiority.
Recent History
Before their journey for the northern hemisphere, it was revealed that next year, in the lack of the Rugby Championship, the All Blacks will play South Africa in a off-season matches called 'a unique competition'.
Historically the rugby's premier teams, there is little doubt over who has recently got the better of what marketers have described 'The Premier Rivalry'.
During the last decade, the South African team have won a pair of global tournaments, three Rugby Championships and a competition against the home nations team to be viewed as the team of their period.
The All Blacks have maintained to beat Ireland when it matters most, defeating Saturday's opponents in the global competition of the past two tournaments. They have, meanwhile, been defeated in just two of the past 21 meetings with the English team, have beaten Wales in each game since the sixties and have never suffered defeat by Scotland.
Changing Dynamics
But the loss of their position as the sport's measure of excellence will persist as an irritation.
Although the All Blacks dominated through the previous decade - securing 87% of their international games, as well as lifting the Webb Ellis on multiple times - the global tournament of 2019 can now be viewed as when the competitive landscape shifted in the international rugby.
New Zealand overcame South Africa in their first game of the competition in Japan, but it was the Boks' who were eventually successful in the final.
Since then, the All Blacks' victory ratio has fallen to 71%. The Springboks themselves were defeated in 10 of their following games but, commencing of 2023, have won at a rate (83%) to compete with even the last great New Zealand team.
Recent Encounters
Over the same period, the South African team have won five of the recent encounters between the teams, including success in the latest global tournament decider.
In claiming their current southern hemisphere crown, the Springboks inflicted a significant beating on the All Blacks courtesy of 36 unanswered second-half points in the capital, a result which has ignited another series of debate concerning the direction of the team under the coach.
Possibly most troubling for supporters of the All Blacks will be that, combined with their traditional strength, the Springboks' success has come with an attacking verve more usually associated with their opposition team.
Team Identity
When the New Zealand team were at the zenith of their abilities a decade past, they were a devastating offensive machine equipped of shredding competitors from any part of the field and at any point of the contest.
Today, their playing philosophy is unclear as Robertson, who has given 19 debuts during his two years in control, tries to first establish the fundamental core elements of a successful side.
It has recently revealed that the supporting manager in charge of attack, the current coach, will exit the team after the upcoming matches, becoming the next individual of Robertson's ticket to depart after Leon MacDonald walked away last year after just limited matches.
Performance Gap
It was not just his winning record, but his style, that was expected to carry over from Crusaders when he began his tenure after the global competition but, to date, the two aspects continue to be a ongoing development.
Business Factors
After private equity firm Silver Lake invested capital in New Zealand rugby in 2022, the following communication mentioned the "search of worldwide growth" for the organization.
That objective has maybe been harder by the lack of a crossover star. Ardie Savea and the group of family members remain recognizable personalities in the sport, but the concentration of talented players has expanded significantly. Savea is the sole New Zealand player to earn global recognition in the recent years, in opposition to ten awards in 13 years between previous generations.
Global Expansion
Alternatively, efforts have been implemented to transplant the All Blacks into new territories.
The first leg of this 'Grand Slam' tour brings the All Blacks not to Dublin but Chicago, a comeback to the stadium where the Irish team secured a historic win in the fixture in previous seasons.
Following the reduction of pandemic limitations, the All Blacks have furthermore
