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Pursuing what would be just a fifth northern hemisphere clean sweep in their legendary past, the All Blacks have headed north at an interesting juncture.

Matches against the Irish team, the Scottish side, the English squad and the Welsh team await the New Zealand team across the upcoming weeks but, quite aside from the possibility to join the squads of 1978, 2005, 2008 and 2010 in the annals of rugby, the fixtures will be used as a yardstick to assess the improvement of the team under a manager now well established from assuming control.

Current Challenges

Questions over a absence of an distinctive approach, ongoing discussions over player choices and leavings from the backroom staff have all added to the perception that the most famous squad in the rugby is currently one in a time of change.

Most importantly, it is the decline in performances from a historic high watermark set between the global tournaments of 2011 and 2019 that has prompted some to suggest that we have evolved beyond of the era of New Zealand dominance.

Team Record

Prior to their journey for the fall series, it was announced that during the following season, in the lack of the Rugby Championship, New Zealand will face the Springboks in a warm-weather tour called 'a unique competition'.

Traditionally the rugby's premier teams, there is clear agreement over who has recently got the better of what organizers have described 'The Premier Rivalry'.

Over the past seven years, the South African team have claimed a couple of World Cups, three southern hemisphere titles and a tour against the British and Irish Lions to be considered as the team of their period.

The All Blacks have persisted to defeat the Irish team when it is crucial, beating this weekend's rivals in the tournament knockout stages of recent years. They have, additionally, been defeated in just a pair of the recent encounters with England, have beaten the Welsh side in every encounter since the sixties and have remained unbeaten by the Scottish team.

Shifting Balance

But the diminishment of their status as the sport's measure of excellence will remain frustrating.

Although the New Zealand team dominated through the last ten years - securing 87% of their fixtures, as well as claiming the global trophy on two occasions - the World Cup of 2019 can now be viewed as when the balance of power changed in the international rugby.

New Zealand overcame South Africa in their first game of the tournament in the host nation, but it was the South Africans who were finally victorious in the final.

Since then, the All Blacks' winning percentage has fallen to seventy-one percent. South Africa themselves lost 10 of their following games but, since the start of last year, have won at a frequency (83%) to match even the former Kiwi champions.

Direct Competition

During the same period, the South African team have secured victory in the majority of the recent encounters between the teams, comprising triumph in the recent championship match.

In claiming their latest regional title, South Africa delivered a significant beating on the All Blacks thanks to 36 unanswered second-half points in Wellington, a result which has triggered another series of debate about the progress of the side under the coach.

Possibly most troubling for supporters of the New Zealand team will be that, alongside their usual power, the Springboks' achievement has come with an offensive flair more typically linked with their own side.

Team Identity

When the All Blacks were at the peak of their powers a decade past, they were a clinical transition team capable of destroying rivals from every section of the field and at any moment of the match.

Currently, their attacking style is more ambiguous as the coach, who has given numerous first caps during his recent tenure in command, tries to primarily create the more prosaic foundations of a winning team.

It has recently revealed that the supporting manager in charge of scoring, their offensive coordinator, will depart his position after the autumn tour, making him the additional person of Robertson's ticket to leave after another coach left last year after just five Tests.

Expectations vs Reality

It was not merely previous achievements, but his style, that was expected to carry over from Crusaders when he began his tenure after the 2023 World Cup but, to date, each continue to be a ongoing development.

Business Factors

Following private equity firm investors acquired shares in New Zealand rugby in 2022, the ensuing statement discussed the "search of international expansion" for the team.

That objective has maybe been more difficult by the lack of a international celebrity. Their key player and the collection of family members continue to be well-known figures in the sport, but the concentration of stars has never been spread wider. The captain is the only New Zealand player to receive global recognition in the recent years, in opposition to ten awards in 13 years between the mid-2000s.

Worldwide Reach

Instead, initiatives have been implemented to introduce the New Zealand team into new territories.

The initial stage of this European campaign brings New Zealand not to Dublin but Chicago, a revisit to the Soldier Field venue where Ireland secured a historic win in the contest nine years ago.

After the relaxation of pandemic limitations, the All Blacks have also