🔗 Share this article

Seeking what would be just a fifth tour victory in their storied history, the New Zealand side have embarked on their tour at an pivotal moment.

Games against the Irish team, Scotland, the English squad and Wales await the New Zealand team across the coming month but, in addition to the opportunity to match the sides of previous successful tours in the record books, the fixtures will be used as a yardstick to assess the development of the team under a manager now two years on from assuming control.

Team Issues

Questions over a lack of an distinctive approach, enduring debates over player choices and leavings from the management team have all contributed to the sense that the best-known side in the rugby is currently one in a period of transition.

Most significantly, it is the drop in results from a past excellence set between the World Cups of 2011 and 2019 that has caused some to theorize that we have moved out of the period of All Black exceptionalism.

Team Record

Before their journey for the northern hemisphere, it was confirmed that during the following season, in the lack of the Rugby Championship, New Zealand will meet South Africa in a summer series termed 'a unique competition'.

Historically the game's two strongest sides, there is clear agreement over who has recently got the better of what promoters have labeled 'The Premier Rivalry'.

In recent seasons, the South African team have claimed a pair of World Cups, three Rugby Championships and a tour against the northern hemisphere selection to be regarded as the side of their era.

The All Blacks have maintained to overcome Ireland when it counts most, overcoming this weekend's rivals in the World Cup quarter finals of the past two tournaments. They have, meanwhile, lost just a pair of the last fixtures with England, have overcome Wales in each game since over sixty years ago and have remained unbeaten by Scotland.

Changing Dynamics

But the diminishment of their position as the sport's measure of excellence will persist as an irritation.

Although the New Zealand team reigned supreme through the previous decade - achieving eighty-seven percent of their fixtures, as well as lifting the Webb Ellis on several instances - the World Cup of the previous competition can now be regarded as when the balance of power moved in the global game.

New Zealand defeated the Springboks in their first game of the tournament in the host nation, but it was the South Africans who were eventually successful in the final.

From that point, the All Blacks' success rate has fallen to seventy-one percent. The Springboks themselves lost 10 of their following games but, from the beginning of last year, have achieved victory at a percentage (eighty-three percent) to rival even the last great New Zealand team.

Head-to-Head

During the same period, the Springboks have won the majority of the recent encounters between the teams, featuring triumph in the recent championship match.

During their pursuit of their most recent regional title, Rassie Erasmus' side inflicted a historic loss on the New Zealand team courtesy of overwhelming display in their home ground, a result which has ignited another round of discussion regarding the direction of the squad under Robertson.

Maybe most troubling for followers of the All Blacks will be that, alongside their characteristic physicality, South Africa's achievement has come with an creative approach more typically linked with their opposition team.

Playing Philosophy

When the New Zealand team were at the height of their capabilities 10 years ago, they were a ruthless counter-attacking unit able of shredding competitors from all areas of the field and at any point of the game.

Today, their playing philosophy is less defined as Robertson, who has handed out 19 debuts during his recent tenure in charge, tries to primarily create the fundamental foundations of a competitive squad.

It has already been confirmed that the backroom staff member responsible for scoring, Jason Holland, will depart his position after the upcoming matches, making him the additional person of Robertson's ticket to exit after previous staff member left last year after just five Tests.

Expectations vs Reality

It was not merely his winning record, but his approach, that was anticipated to translate from his former team when he took over after the recent tournament but, to date, both remain a ongoing development.

Business Factors

When private equity firm Silver Lake acquired shares in New Zealand rugby in the past, the following communication discussed the "quest of new global opportunities" for the team.

That goal has perhaps been harder by the absence of a crossover star. The current captain and the trio of related players are still household names in the sport, but the concentration of stars has expanded significantly. Their leader is the sole New Zealand player to receive global recognition in the current era, in opposition to ten awards in multiple seasons between the mid-2000s.

Worldwide Reach

Alternatively, attempts have been undertaken to introduce the New Zealand team into previously untapped markets.

The first leg of this European campaign brings New Zealand not to Dublin but the American city, a return to the stadium where Ireland achieved a first ever victory in the fixture during past tours.

Since the easing of pandemic limitations, the New Zealand team have furthermore