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Aiming for what would be just a fifth 'Grand Slam' in their legendary past, the New Zealand side have traveled to Europe at an crucial period.

Matches against the Irish team, the Scottish side, the English squad and the Welsh team await the New Zealand team across the next four weekends but, quite aside from the possibility to equal the squads of 1978, 2005, 2008 and 2010 in the history books, the fixtures will be used as a yardstick to assess the progress of the squad under a leader now well established from beginning his tenure.

Present Difficulties

Concerns over a absence of an distinctive approach, ongoing discussions over player choices and departures from the coaching ticket have all fueled the sense that the best-known side in the rugby is currently one in a time of change.

Most significantly, it is the decline in performances from a previous peak set between the global tournaments of the last decade that has led some to suggest that we have evolved beyond of the era of New Zealand dominance.

Team Record

Ahead of their departure for the European tour, it was confirmed that in the coming year, in the non-existence of the southern hemisphere competition, New Zealand will play the Springboks in a off-season matches called 'a unique competition'.

In the past the sport's top competitors, there is no question over who has lately dominated of what organizers have called 'Rugby's Greatest Rivalry'.

During the last decade, the Springboks have won a pair of World Cups, three Rugby Championships and a series against the northern hemisphere selection to be considered as the squad of their period.

The All Blacks have persisted to defeat the Irish team when it counts most, defeating their next challengers in the global competition of 2019 and '23. They have, at the same time, lost just a pair of the recent encounters with the English team, have beaten Wales in every encounter since the sixties and have remained unbeaten by Scotland.

Changing Dynamics

But the loss of their status as the rugby's benchmark will persist as an irritation.

Although the New Zealand team excelled through the 2010s - achieving eighty-seven percent of their international games, as well as lifting the World Cup on two occasions - the World Cup of 2019 can now be regarded as when the hierarchical structure moved in the global game.

The All Blacks overcame the Springboks in their first game of the tournament in the host nation, but it was the Boks' who were eventually successful in the championship match.

Since then, the All Blacks' victory ratio has declined to 71%. South Africa themselves lost 10 of their following games but, since the start of last year, have achieved victory at a frequency (83%) to compete with even the last great New Zealand team.

Recent Encounters

During the same period, the South African team have secured victory in the majority of the past fixtures between the sides, comprising victory in the latest global tournament decider.

While securing their latest continental championship, Rassie Erasmus' side inflicted a significant beating on the All Blacks through 36 unanswered second-half points in Wellington, a score which has triggered another wave of controversy about the progress of the squad under their leader.

Perhaps most jarring for fans of the New Zealand team will be that, allied to their characteristic physicality, the Springboks' achievement has come with an attacking verve more typically linked with their own side.

Playing Philosophy

At the time that the All Blacks were at the peak of their capabilities a decade past, they were a ruthless counter-attacking unit able of dismantling opponents from every section of the pitch and at any point of the game.

Currently, their attacking style is unclear as the coach, who has given numerous first caps during his recent tenure in control, tries to primarily create the more prosaic building blocks of a competitive squad.

It has previously announced that the assistant coach responsible for attack, their offensive coordinator, will depart his position after the upcoming matches, making him the additional person of management team to exit after another coach departed last year after just a handful of games.

Performance Gap

It was not only previous achievements, but his methodology, that was expected to transfer from Crusaders when he took over after the 2023 World Cup but, so far, the two aspects continue to be a continuous improvement.

Business Factors

When investment group Silver Lake bought a stake in New Zealand rugby in recent years, the ensuing statement discussed the "search of worldwide growth" for the team.

That objective has possibly been more challenging by the shortage of a crossover star. Ardie Savea and the group of related players continue to be recognizable personalities in the game, but the distribution of key individuals has become more diverse. Their leader is the only All Black to earn international honors in the recent years, in comparison to ten awards in over a decade between the mid-2000s.

Worldwide Reach

Instead, initiatives have been undertaken to establish the All Blacks into previously untapped markets.

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

After the reduction of Covid-19 travel restrictions, the New Zealand team have additionally