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Seeking what would be just a fifth northern hemisphere clean sweep in their legendary past, the All Blacks have embarked on their tour at an crucial period.

Fixtures against the Irish team, the Scottish side, the English squad and the Welsh team await the All Blacks across the upcoming weeks but, quite aside from the chance to equal the teams of previous successful tours in the annals of rugby, the matches will be used as a benchmark to measure the development of the squad under a leader now 24 months into from taking up the reins.

Present Difficulties

Questions over a absence of an identifiable style, ongoing discussions over team picks and leavings from the backroom staff have all contributed to the sense that the best-known side in the game is now one in a period of transition.

Most significantly, it is the drop in performances from a previous peak set between the global tournaments of the last decade that has caused some to theorize that we have evolved beyond of the age of New Zealand dominance.

Team Record

Before their departure for the fall series, it was announced that during the following season, in the non-existence of the southern hemisphere competition, New Zealand will play the Springboks in a warm-weather tour called 'a unique competition'.

Historically the sport's top competitors, there is little doubt over who has currently outperformed of what organizers have described '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 tour against the home nations team to be considered as the squad of their generation.

The All Blacks have persisted to defeat the Irish team when it counts most, defeating this weekend's rivals in the World Cup quarter finals of recent years. They have, at the same time, been defeated in just a couple of the recent encounters with the English team, have overcome Wales in every encounter since the sixties and have remained unbeaten by Scotland.

Changing Dynamics

But the diminishment of their status as the rugby's benchmark will remain frustrating.

Although the New Zealand team excelled through the previous decade - achieving 87% of their international games, as well as claiming the Webb Ellis on several instances - the World Cup of the previous competition can now be regarded as when the hierarchical structure moved in the world sport.

The All Blacks beat the Springboks in their initial fixture of the tournament in the host nation, but it was the South Africans who were finally victorious in the final.

After that event, the All Blacks' success rate has declined to seventy-one percent. South Africa themselves were defeated in ten of their following games but, commencing of last year, have won at a rate (eighty-three percent) to rival even the previous All Blacks side.

Direct Competition

Throughout the same period, the Springboks have won the majority of the seven meetings between the teams, comprising success in the latest global tournament decider.

While securing their latest southern hemisphere crown, the Springboks inflicted a significant beating on the New Zealand team courtesy of dominant performance in their home ground, a score which has sparked another series of debate regarding the progress of the team under their leader.

Perhaps most concerning for fans of the All Blacks will be that, combined with their characteristic physicality, the Springboks' achievement has come with an creative approach more usually associated with their opposition team.

Playing Philosophy

When the New Zealand team were at the height of their powers a decade past, they were a clinical transition team able of shredding opponents from all areas of the playing surface and at all times of the match.

Today, their playing philosophy is more ambiguous as Robertson, who has given multiple new players during his two years in charge, tries to primarily create the more prosaic foundations of a successful side.

It has previously announced that the supporting manager overseeing attack, their offensive coordinator, will depart his position after the autumn tour, making him the second member of Robertson's ticket to depart after previous staff member walked away last year after just five Tests.

Performance Gap

It was not just previous achievements, but his methodology, that was anticipated to transfer from his former team when he assumed control after the 2023 World Cup but, so far, both remain a work in progress.

Commercial Considerations

After investment group the company acquired shares in All Blacks in the past, the ensuing statement discussed the "quest of worldwide growth" for the organization.

That task has perhaps been harder by the absence of a international celebrity. Their key player and the group of related players are still household names in the sport, but the distribution of stars has never been spread wider. The captain is the sole New Zealand player to earn World Player of the Year in the past six seasons, in opposition to ten awards in over a decade between 2005 and '07.

Global Expansion

Instead, efforts have been made to transplant the All Blacks into previously untapped markets.

The initial stage of this 'Grand Slam' tour brings New Zealand not to the Irish capital but the American city, a comeback to the Soldier Field venue where Ireland secured a landmark success in the fixture during past tours.

After the relaxation of pandemic limitations, the New Zealand team have additionally