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Pursuing what would be just a fifth northern hemisphere clean sweep in their legendary past, the New Zealand side have embarked on their tour at an pivotal moment.

Matches against the Irish team, Scotland, the English squad and the Welsh team await the New Zealand team across the upcoming weeks but, quite aside from the opportunity to equal the teams of 1978, 2005, 2008 and 2010 in the history books, the matches will be used as a yardstick to evaluate the progress of the team under a leader now 24 months into from assuming control.

Team Issues

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

Most significantly, it is the decline in outcomes from a past excellence set between the World Cups of 2011 and 2019 that has caused some to speculate that we have transitioned away of the era of Kiwi superiority.

Recent History

Prior to their departure for the European tour, it was revealed that in the coming year, in the non-existence of the Rugby Championship, New Zealand will face South Africa in a off-season matches called 'an unprecedented series'.

Historically the rugby's premier teams, there is clear agreement over who has lately dominated of what marketers have called 'The Ultimate Contest'.

In recent seasons, the South African team have secured a couple of World Cups, three southern hemisphere titles and a competition against the home nations team to be regarded as the team of their generation.

New Zealand have persisted to beat Ireland when it matters most, defeating this weekend's rivals in the global competition of recent years. They have, meanwhile, lost just two of the past 21 meetings with the English team, have beaten the Welsh side in every encounter since 1963 and have always been victorious by the Scottish team.

Shifting Balance

But the decline of their status as the sport's measure of excellence will persist as an irritation.

While the New Zealand team reigned supreme through the 2010s - winning eighty-seven percent of their fixtures, as well as claiming the Webb Ellis on several instances - the World Cup of the previous competition can now be regarded as when the competitive landscape moved in the global game.

The All Blacks defeated the Springboks in their initial fixture of the championship in the host nation, but it was the Boks' who were eventually successful in the final.

Since then, the New Zealand's success rate has declined to seventy-one percent. South Africa themselves were defeated in ten of their subsequent fixtures but, from the beginning of last year, have won at a rate (eighty-three percent) to rival even the previous All Blacks side.

Head-to-Head

Throughout the same period, the South African team have secured victory in five of the past fixtures between the opponents, featuring triumph in the recent championship match.

In claiming their latest regional title, the Springboks delivered a significant beating on the All Blacks courtesy of overwhelming display in Wellington, a score which has sparked another round of controversy concerning the progress of the squad under their leader.

Perhaps most jarring for followers of the All Blacks will be that, allied to their usual power, the Springboks' triumph has come with an attacking verve more typically linked with their opposition team.

Style Evolution

During the period when the All Blacks were at the height of their powers a decade past, they were a devastating offensive machine equipped of dismantling rivals from every section of the playing surface and at all times of the match.

Now, their offensive approach is less defined as Robertson, who has given multiple new players during his 24 months in control, tries to primarily create the more prosaic building blocks of a competitive squad.

It has previously announced that the backroom staff member in charge of attack, the current coach, will leave his role after the upcoming matches, becoming the second member of the coaching staff to exit after previous staff member left last year after just a handful of games.

Team Development

It was not merely Robertson's success, but his approach, that was expected to transfer from his former team when he began his tenure after the 2023 World Cup but, to date, the two aspects remain a ongoing development.

Business Factors

After financial organization Silver Lake bought a stake in New Zealand rugby in 2022, the following communication mentioned the "search of international expansion" for the organization.

That goal has perhaps been more difficult by the absence of a crossover star. The current captain and the collection of Barrett brothers remain recognizable personalities in the rugby, but the spread of talented players has never been spread wider. The captain is the only All Black to earn global recognition in the recent years, in comparison to ten awards in multiple seasons between the mid-2000s.

International Growth

Instead, attempts have been made to transplant the New Zealand team into previously untapped markets.

The first leg of this 'Grand Slam' tour brings New Zealand not to the Irish capital but the American city, a return to the stadium where Ireland obtained a first ever victory in the fixture during past tours.

Since the reduction of pandemic limitations, the New Zealand team have also