Can the All Blacks regain their winning form this autumn?
Aiming for what would be just a fifth northern hemisphere clean sweep in their legendary past, the New Zealand side have headed north at an crucial period.
Matches against Ireland, Scotland, England and the Welsh team await the All Blacks across the coming month but, beyond the opportunity to join the sides of previous successful tours in the record books, the matches will be used as a benchmark to measure the improvement of the side under a leader now well established from taking up the reins.
Present Difficulties
Doubts over a absence of an identifiable style, ongoing discussions over team picks and leavings from the backroom staff have all fueled the sense that the best-known side in the game is currently one in a time of change.
Most pertinently, it is the decline in performances from a historic high watermark set between the global tournaments of the last decade that has prompted some to speculate that we have evolved beyond of the period of Kiwi superiority.
Team Record
Ahead of their departure for the fall series, it was announced that during the following season, in the absence of the Rugby Championship, New Zealand will face South Africa in a warm-weather tour called 'an unprecedented series'.
Traditionally the sport's top competitors, there is little doubt over who has recently got the better of what marketers have called 'Rugby's Greatest Rivalry'.
In recent seasons, the Springboks have won a two of global tournaments, three Rugby Championships and a series against the British and Irish Lions to be viewed as the side of their era.
The All Blacks have continued to beat Ireland when it counts most, beating this weekend's rivals in the tournament knockout stages of 2019 and '23. They have, additionally, been defeated in just a pair of the recent encounters with the English team, have beaten Wales in every encounter since the sixties and have always been victorious by the Scottish team.
Evolving Landscape
But the decline of their position as the rugby's benchmark will persist as an irritation.
Although the New Zealand team reigned supreme through the 2010s - achieving 87% of their international games, as well as lifting the World Cup on multiple times - the World Cup of 2019 can now be regarded as when the balance of power changed in the world sport.
The All Blacks beat the Springboks in their first game of the championship in the host nation, but it was the Boks' who were eventually successful in Yokohama.
After that event, the New Zealand's victory ratio has dropped to 71%. South Africa themselves lost ten of their subsequent fixtures but, since the start of last year, have achieved victory at a percentage (eighty-three percent) to match even the former Kiwi champions.
Head-to-Head
Over the same period, the 'Boks have secured victory in the majority of the seven meetings between the teams, including success in the recent championship match.
In claiming their current regional title, South Africa inflicted a significant beating on the New Zealand team thanks to overwhelming display in their home ground, a score which has triggered another series of controversy regarding the direction of the squad under Robertson.
Perhaps most jarring for supporters of the New Zealand team will be that, alongside their usual power, the Springboks' triumph has come with an attacking verve more typically linked with their traditional rivals.
Style Evolution
During the period when the New Zealand team were at the height of their capabilities 10 years ago, they were a clinical transition team capable of shredding rivals from any part of the field and at all times of the match.
Now, their playing philosophy is unclear as the coach, who has awarded 19 debuts during his 24 months in command, tries to initially build the more prosaic foundations of a successful side.
It has previously announced that the assistant coach in charge of offense, Jason Holland, will exit the team after the upcoming matches, becoming the additional person of Robertson's ticket to exit after Leon MacDonald left last year after just limited matches.
Expectations vs Reality
It was not only Robertson's success, but his approach, that was expected to translate from previous club when he took over after the global competition but, to date, each are still a ongoing development.
Organizational Strategy
After private equity firm Silver Lake acquired shares in All Blacks in 2022, the subsequent announcement mentioned the "pursuit of new global opportunities" for the brand.
That goal has possibly been harder by the shortage of a international celebrity. The current captain and the trio of family members continue to be household names in the rugby, but the distribution of key individuals has expanded significantly. Savea is the single New Zealand player to win World Player of the Year in the current era, in comparison to 10 in over a decade between the mid-2000s.
Global Expansion
Alternatively, efforts have been undertaken to transplant the New Zealand team into emerging regions.
The opening phase of this European campaign brings New Zealand not to the Irish capital but Chicago, a return to the location where Ireland obtained a historic win in the contest in previous seasons.
Following the relaxation of health protocols, the New Zealand team have also
