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Seeking what would be just a fifth 'Grand Slam' in their storied history, the New Zealand side have traveled to Europe at an interesting juncture.

Games against the Irish team, the Scottish side, the English squad and Wales await the New Zealand team across the next four weekends but, beyond the opportunity to match the teams of 1978, 2005, 2008 and 2010 in the record books, the fixtures will be used as a yardstick to evaluate the improvement of the team under a head coach now 24 months into from assuming control.

Current Challenges

Questions over a shortage of an identifiable style, enduring debates over team picks and departures from the management team have all added to the sense that the most recognisable team in the game is presently one in a state of flux.

Most importantly, it is the dip in results from a past excellence set between the global tournaments of the last decade that has prompted some to theorize that we have evolved beyond of the age of Kiwi superiority.

Team Record

Before their journey for the European tour, it was announced that during the following season, in the absence of the Rugby Championship, New Zealand will play the Springboks in a off-season matches called 'a unique competition'.

Traditionally the rugby's premier teams, there is little doubt over who has currently outperformed of what organizers have called 'Rugby's Greatest Rivalry'.

Over the past seven years, the Springboks have secured a couple of World Cups, three southern hemisphere titles and a competition against the northern hemisphere selection to be regarded as the team of their generation.

New Zealand have maintained to beat the Irish team when it matters most, overcoming this weekend's rivals in the global competition of 2019 and '23. They have, meanwhile, lost just two of the recent encounters with the English team, have beaten Wales in all matches since the sixties and have remained unbeaten by Scotland.

Evolving Landscape

But the decline of their standing as the rugby's benchmark will continue to rankle.

While the All Blacks reigned supreme through the previous decade - winning eighty-seven percent of their international games, as well as claiming the World Cup on several instances - the World Cup of 2019 can now be seen as when the competitive landscape shifted in the global game.

The All Blacks beat the Springboks in their opening match of the championship in Japan, but it was the South Africans who were finally victorious in Yokohama.

Since then, the All Blacks' success rate has dropped to seventy-one percent. The Springboks themselves were defeated in 10 of their following games but, since the start of last year, have won at a rate (eighty-three percent) to compete with even the last great New Zealand team.

Direct Competition

Throughout the comparable duration, the 'Boks have secured victory in the majority of the seven meetings between the teams, including victory in the 2023 World Cup final.

During their pursuit of their current continental championship, the Springboks inflicted a record 43-10 defeat on the All Blacks through dominant performance in the capital, a outcome which has triggered another wave of controversy about the direction of the side under Robertson.

Maybe most concerning for supporters of the New Zealand team will be that, alongside their characteristic physicality, the Springboks' achievement has come with an attacking verve more usually associated with their own side.

Playing Philosophy

When the All Blacks were at the zenith of their powers a decade past, they were a clinical transition team capable of destroying opponents from any part of the playing surface and at all times of the contest.

Today, their attacking style is more ambiguous as their leader, who has given 19 debuts during his recent tenure in command, tries to primarily create the more prosaic building blocks of a winning team.

It has recently revealed that the assistant coach overseeing attack, Jason Holland, will leave his role after the upcoming matches, making him the second member of Robertson's ticket to exit after previous staff member departed last year after just five Tests.

Performance Gap

It was not merely his winning record, but his style, that was predicted to transfer from previous club when he assumed control after the global competition but, as yet, each remain a work in progress.

Business Factors

When private equity firm investors bought a stake in New Zealand rugby in 2022, the subsequent announcement discussed the "pursuit of worldwide growth" for the brand.

That goal has perhaps been more difficult by the shortage of a global icon. Their key player and the group of family members remain well-known figures in the rugby, but the concentration of talented players has become more diverse. Savea is the single New Zealand player to earn global recognition in the recent years, in contrast to ten awards in 13 years between 2005 and '07.

International Growth

Rather, attempts have been implemented to introduce the All Blacks into previously untapped markets.

The first leg of this European campaign brings New Zealand not to Dublin but the American city, a comeback to the stadium where Ireland achieved a landmark success in the fixture during past tours.

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