Will the New Zealand rugby team find their winning form in the upcoming matches?
Seeking what would be just a fifth 'Grand Slam' in their storied history, the All Blacks have embarked on their tour at an crucial period.
Fixtures against the Irish team, Scotland, England and the Welsh team await Scott Robertson's side across the coming month but, quite aside from the opportunity to join the sides of 1978, 2005, 2008 and 2010 in the annals of rugby, the fixtures will be used as a measure to measure the progress of the squad under a leader now well established from beginning his tenure.
Present Difficulties
Concerns over a absence of an identifiable style, continuing controversies over team picks and exits from the coaching ticket have all contributed to the feeling that the best-known side in the sport is now one in a time of change.
Most pertinently, it is the drop in outcomes from a previous peak set between the global tournaments of 2011 and 2019 that has prompted some to theorize that we have moved out of the era of Kiwi superiority.
Team Record
Ahead of their travel for the fall series, it was confirmed that during the following season, in the lack of the Rugby Championship, New Zealand will face South Africa in a off-season matches dubbed 'a tour like no other'.
Historically the sport's top competitors, there is clear agreement over who has currently outperformed of what marketers have labeled 'The Ultimate Contest'.
Over the past seven years, the Springboks have secured a pair of World Cups, three Rugby Championships and a competition against the home nations team to be regarded as the team of their generation.
New Zealand have continued to beat Ireland when it is crucial, beating their next challengers in the global competition of 2019 and '23. They have, at the same time, lost just a pair of the last fixtures with England, have overcome Wales in each game since over sixty years ago and have always been victorious by the Scottish team.
Shifting Balance
But the loss of their position as the game's gold standard will continue to rankle.
While the New Zealand team excelled through the previous decade - securing 87% of their international games, as well as claiming the World Cup on several instances - the global tournament of the previous competition can now be seen as when the competitive landscape shifted in the world sport.
New Zealand beat the Springboks in their first game of the tournament in Japan, but it was the South Africans who were eventually successful in the championship match.
From that point, the New Zealand's success rate has dropped to seventy-one percent. The Springboks themselves lost ten of their next 26 Test matches but, since the start of last year, have won at a rate (83%) to compete with even the former Kiwi champions.
Recent Encounters
During the same period, the South African team have secured victory in the majority of the seven meetings between the opponents, featuring victory in the 2023 World Cup final.
In claiming their current continental championship, the Springboks delivered a record 43-10 defeat on the All Blacks courtesy of 36 unanswered second-half points in their home ground, a result which has triggered another round of controversy about the progress of the side under Robertson.
Maybe most jarring for supporters of the All Blacks will be that, alongside their usual power, South Africa's success has come with an creative approach more typically linked with their traditional rivals.
Playing Philosophy
At the time that the New Zealand team were at the peak of their powers in previous eras, they were a devastating offensive machine capable of destroying rivals from all areas of the field and at any point of the contest.
Today, their playing philosophy is less defined as the coach, who has handed out numerous first caps during his two years in charge, tries to first establish the more prosaic foundations of a winning team.
It has already been confirmed that the assistant coach responsible for scoring, their offensive coordinator, will leave his role after the upcoming matches, making him the additional person of management team to exit after previous staff member departed last year after just a handful of games.
Expectations vs Reality
It was not only previous achievements, but his style, that was anticipated to transfer from previous club when he began his tenure after the recent tournament but, as yet, both continue to be a work in progress.
Business Factors
Following private equity firm the company invested capital in New Zealand rugby in the past, the ensuing statement mentioned the "pursuit of new global opportunities" for the organization.
That goal has possibly been more difficult by the absence of a global icon. Their key player and the collection of Barrett brothers remain household names in the rugby, but the spread of key individuals has never been spread wider. The captain is the only All Black to receive World Player of the Year in the current era, in comparison to 10 in multiple seasons between 2005 and '07.
Global Expansion
Rather, initiatives have been made to introduce the All Blacks into previously untapped markets.
The first leg of this 'Grand Slam' tour brings New Zealand not to Dublin but the American city, a return to the Soldier Field venue where Ireland achieved a historic win in the fixture in previous seasons.
Since the easing of Covid-19 travel restrictions, the All Blacks have also
