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Pursuing what would be just a fifth tour victory in their illustrious legacy, the New Zealand side have traveled to Europe at an interesting juncture.

Matches against Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales await the All Blacks across the upcoming weeks but, quite aside from the possibility to equal the sides of 1978, 2005, 2008 and 2010 in the record books, the games will be used as a yardstick to measure the progress of the team under a leader now well established from beginning his tenure.

Team Issues

Questions over a absence of an clear playing identity, enduring debates over player choices and exits from the backroom staff have all contributed to the feeling that the most recognisable team in the game is now one in a time of change.

Most pertinently, it is the drop in results from a historic high watermark set between the global tournaments of 2011 and 2019 that has prompted some to speculate that we have transitioned away of the age of Kiwi superiority.

Past Performance

Prior to their travel for the fall series, it was announced that next year, in the lack of the Rugby Championship, the All Blacks will play the Springboks in a summer series called 'an unprecedented series'.

In the past the sport's top competitors, there is clear agreement over who has lately dominated of what organizers have labeled 'The Premier Rivalry'.

Over the past seven years, the South African team have won a couple of World Cups, three southern hemisphere titles and a series against the northern hemisphere selection to be viewed as the team of their generation.

New Zealand have persisted to overcome Ireland when it is crucial, beating their next challengers in the tournament knockout stages of the past two tournaments. They have, meanwhile, been defeated in just two of the recent encounters with England, have overcome the Welsh side in each game since over sixty years ago and have always been victorious by Scotland.

Evolving Landscape

But the diminishment of their position as the game's gold standard will persist as an irritation.

Although the All Blacks dominated through the previous decade - winning 87% of their Test matches, as well as lifting the World Cup on several instances - the World Cup of the previous competition can now be regarded as when the competitive landscape shifted in the global game.

New Zealand beat South Africa in their first game of the championship in the host nation, but it was the South Africans who were eventually successful in the final.

After that event, the New Zealand's success rate has fallen to 71%. South Africa themselves lost ten of their subsequent fixtures but, since the start of 2023, have achieved victory at a rate (83%) to match even the previous All Blacks side.

Head-to-Head

Over the comparable duration, the Springboks have secured victory in the majority of the seven meetings between the teams, featuring victory in the 2023 World Cup final.

During their pursuit of their most recent continental championship, South Africa inflicted a record 43-10 defeat on the New Zealand team through overwhelming display in their home ground, a score which has ignited another wave of debate regarding the progress of the team under the coach.

Maybe most concerning for supporters of the New Zealand team will be that, combined with their characteristic physicality, the Springboks' triumph has come with an offensive flair more commonly connected with their traditional rivals.

Style Evolution

During the period when the New Zealand team were at the zenith of their capabilities in previous eras, they were a clinical transition team equipped of dismantling competitors from any part of the pitch and at any point of the match.

Today, their offensive approach is more ambiguous as the coach, who has given multiple new players during his two years in command, tries to primarily create the basic core elements of a successful side.

It has recently revealed that the assistant coach responsible for attack, Jason Holland, will exit the team after the autumn tour, becoming the next individual of the coaching staff to exit after another coach departed last year after just a handful of games.

Performance Gap

It was not only previous achievements, but his methodology, that was expected to transfer from Crusaders when he began his tenure after the global competition but, so far, each are still a work in progress.

Commercial Considerations

After investment group the company invested capital in New Zealand rugby in recent years, the ensuing statement spoke of the "search of international expansion" for the organization.

That goal has maybe been harder by the absence of a global icon. Ardie Savea and the group of Barrett brothers are still recognizable personalities in the game, but the spread of stars has never been spread wider. Savea is the only All Black to earn World Player of the Year in the current era, in comparison to ten awards in multiple seasons between the mid-2000s.

Worldwide Reach

Rather, attempts have been made to transplant the All Blacks into new territories.

The opening phase of this 'Grand Slam' tour brings New Zealand not to the Irish capital but the American city, a return to the location where the Irish team secured a historic win in the fixture nine years ago.

Following the reduction of health protocols, the All Blacks have furthermore