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Pursuing what would be just a fifth tour victory in their storied history, the New Zealand side have headed north at an crucial period.

Fixtures against Ireland, the Scottish side, England and the Welsh team await the New Zealand team across the upcoming weeks but, quite aside from the opportunity to match the squads of previous successful tours in the history books, the matches will be used as a yardstick to assess the progress of the squad under a leader now two years on from taking up the reins.

Present Difficulties

Questions over a absence of an clear playing identity, continuing controversies over selection and departures from the backroom staff have all added to the perception that the most famous squad in the game is presently one in a period of transition.

Most pertinently, it is the drop in results from a historic high watermark set between the World Cups of the last decade that has caused some to suggest that we have transitioned away of the period of Kiwi superiority.

Past Performance

Ahead of their journey for the fall series, it was confirmed that next year, in the absence of the Rugby Championship, New Zealand will play South Africa in a summer series dubbed 'an unprecedented series'.

In the past the rugby's premier teams, there is little doubt over who has currently outperformed of what organizers have called 'The Ultimate Contest'.

During the last decade, the Springboks have won a two of World Cups, three southern hemisphere titles and a series against the home nations team to be viewed as the squad of their generation.

The All Blacks have persisted to beat the Irish team when it matters most, beating Saturday's opponents in the global competition of 2019 and '23. They have, at the same time, lost just two of the last fixtures with England, have overcome the Welsh side in all matches since over sixty years ago and have always been victorious by Scotland.

Shifting Balance

But the diminishment of their status as the game's gold standard will remain frustrating.

Although the New Zealand team reigned supreme through the previous decade - achieving 87% of their fixtures, as well as lifting the World Cup on several instances - the World Cup of the previous competition can now be seen as when the competitive landscape moved in the global game.

New Zealand beat the Springboks in their opening match of the championship in Japan, but it was the South Africans who were eventually successful in Yokohama.

Since then, the All Blacks' success rate has dropped to 71%. South Africa themselves were defeated in ten of their following games but, from the beginning of last year, have won at a rate (83%) to match even the previous All Blacks side.

Direct Competition

Throughout the equivalent timeframe, the Springboks have secured victory in five of the seven meetings between the sides, comprising victory in the 2023 World Cup final.

While securing their current southern hemisphere crown, Rassie Erasmus' side delivered a significant beating on the All Blacks courtesy of overwhelming display in Wellington, a score which has ignited another wave of controversy about the progress of the squad under their leader.

Maybe most troubling for fans of the All Blacks will be that, alongside their characteristic physicality, the Springboks' success has come with an offensive flair more usually associated with their traditional rivals.

Team Identity

During the period when the All Blacks were at the height of their powers 10 years ago, they were a ruthless counter-attacking unit equipped of shredding rivals from all areas of the playing surface and at all times of the match.

Today, their playing philosophy is less defined as the coach, who has handed out numerous first caps during his two years in control, tries to initially build the more prosaic building blocks of a successful side.

It has already been confirmed that the assistant coach responsible for scoring, the current coach, will depart his position after the upcoming matches, making him the next individual of the coaching staff to depart after previous staff member departed last year after just limited matches.

Team Development

It was not just his winning record, but his methodology, that was anticipated to translate from previous club when he took over after the 2023 World Cup but, as yet, each are still a work in progress.

Organizational Strategy

After investment group investors bought a stake in New Zealand rugby in 2022, the subsequent announcement discussed the "search of worldwide growth" for the brand.

That task has maybe been more challenging by the absence of a international celebrity. Ardie Savea and the trio of family members continue to be well-known figures in the game, but the distribution of talented players has become more diverse. Savea is the single All Black to receive global recognition in the past six seasons, in comparison to 10 in multiple seasons between the mid-2000s.

Global Expansion

Instead, attempts have been undertaken to establish the New Zealand team into new territories.

The initial stage of this 'Grand Slam' tour brings New Zealand not to the Irish capital but Chicago, a revisit to the location where the Irish team secured a historic win in the match in previous seasons.

After the reduction of health protocols, the All Blacks have furthermore