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Aiming for what would be just a fifth tour victory in their storied history, the New Zealand side have traveled to Europe at an pivotal moment.

Fixtures against the Irish team, the Scottish side, England and the Welsh team await the New Zealand team across the next four weekends 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 evaluate the improvement of the team under a head coach now 24 months into from taking up the reins.

Team Issues

Doubts over a shortage of an distinctive approach, enduring debates over selection and exits from the management team have all contributed to the sense that the most famous squad in the game is currently one in a time of change.

Most pertinently, it is the drop in outcomes from a past excellence set between the World Cups of the last decade that has led some to suggest that we have evolved beyond of the period of New Zealand dominance.

Team Record

Before their travel for the northern hemisphere, it was announced that during the following season, in the absence of the Rugby Championship, the All Blacks will meet the Springboks in a warm-weather tour dubbed 'an unprecedented series'.

In the past the rugby's premier teams, there is clear agreement over who has lately dominated of what marketers have called 'Rugby's Greatest Rivalry'.

During the last decade, the Springboks have won a two of global tournaments, three Rugby Championships and a competition against the British and Irish Lions to be regarded as the side of their period.

New Zealand have continued to defeat the Irish team when it matters most, overcoming this weekend's rivals in the global competition of recent years. They have, at the same time, been defeated in just a couple of the recent encounters with the English team, have beaten Wales in all matches since 1963 and have always been victorious by Scotland.

Evolving Landscape

But the diminishment of their standing as the game's gold standard will continue to rankle.

Whereas the All Blacks dominated through the 2010s - achieving eighty-seven percent of their Test matches, as well as lifting the World Cup on multiple times - the World Cup of the previous competition can now be regarded as when the competitive landscape changed in the world sport.

The All Blacks overcame South Africa in their opening match of the championship in Japan, but it was the Boks' who were finally victorious in Yokohama.

From that point, the New Zealand's success rate has declined to seventy-one percent. South Africa themselves lost ten of their subsequent fixtures but, since the start of 2023, have won at a frequency (eighty-three percent) to rival even the last great New Zealand team.

Direct Competition

Over the same period, the Springboks have secured victory in the majority of the seven meetings between the teams, comprising success in the 2023 World Cup final.

While securing their latest regional title, Rassie Erasmus' side administered a significant beating on the New Zealand team courtesy of dominant performance in their home ground, a outcome which has sparked another series of controversy concerning the progress of the squad under their leader.

Possibly most jarring for fans of the All Blacks will be that, combined with their traditional strength, the Springboks' success has come with an attacking verve more usually associated with their own side.

Style Evolution

During the period when the New Zealand team were at the height of their abilities 10 years ago, they were a clinical transition team equipped of destroying opponents from any part of the field and at any moment of the game.

Currently, their attacking style is more ambiguous as their leader, who has handed out numerous first caps during his 24 months in charge, tries to initially build the more prosaic core elements of a successful side.

It has previously announced that the assistant coach responsible for scoring, the current coach, will depart his position after the autumn tour, becoming the second member of management team to leave after previous staff member left last year after just a handful of games.

Expectations vs Reality

It was not only his winning record, but his methodology, that was predicted to translate from previous club when he began his tenure after the 2023 World Cup but, so far, both continue to be a work in progress.

Business Factors

Following private equity firm investors bought a stake in All Blacks in the past, the following communication discussed the "quest of worldwide growth" for the brand.

That goal has perhaps been more challenging by the absence of a international celebrity. Their key player and the group of family members remain well-known figures in the game, but the distribution of talented players has become more diverse. Savea is the sole New Zealand player to earn World Player of the Year in the past six seasons, in opposition to 10 in over a decade between previous generations.

International Growth

Alternatively, initiatives have been undertaken to introduce the New Zealand team into new territories.

The first leg of this northern hemisphere series brings the All Blacks not to Dublin but Chicago, a revisit to the stadium where Ireland obtained a landmark success in the contest in previous seasons.

Following the reduction of health protocols, the New Zealand team have also