England is the last real Test for the All Blacks in 2026

At least the Warriors lost.

That’s about the only item of news to lift the rugby gloom.

New Zealand Rugby (NZR) has financial problems, we’ve potentially seen the last of Ardie Savea for the season, the largely unwatched and unloved NPC might be sliding into further obscurity and the All Blacks are pretty much done for the year.

I say done because October tests against the Wallabies hardly get the pulse racing, nor the thought of playing Scotland and Wales. England in London on November 22 presents a useful yardstick of whether 2026 has been worthwhile, given the All Blacks were soundly beaten there a year ago.

That’s what I’m trying to work out here.

I’m not a business analyst, I have no commercial or governance acumen, so I only mention the losses NZR are looking at in a health of the game way. It’s not great to lose money and the governing body needs to find ways to better live within its means.

I have areas where I’d cut costs, but the NPC wouldn’t be one of them. The competition might not enjoy the prominence of my youth, but it remains important to provincial New Zealand.

Like many, I don’t live in a Super Rugby Pacific base. My immediate connection to the game is through school, club and provincial rugby and you sever those types of things at your peril.

We can’t have rugby only being played by a few elite 1st XVs, Super franchises and the All Blacks and call it our national game anymore.

I get that having 26 provincial unions isn’t cheap but, to me, the work done within those catchments remains the most important in the rugby pyramid.

The Savea thing is an issue, not least because he’s become captain. You lead by actions and we’ve seen him take a Super Rugby Pacific sabbatical, sit out the start of the tour to South Africa and now need surgery. That’s unfortunate, but it also underlines why he ought to have been around the whole time.

As for the Test season, it feels like it’s over before it’s barely started.

France didn’t send their best, Ireland aren’t what they were and Italy’s Italy. The All Blacks got beaten up by South Africa, as the injury toll from that tour would attest.

Beyond Australia beating the All Blacks – or Scotland and Wales for that matter – I doubt there’s a lot to be learned or gained from those games. I have to say it’s all left me feeling a bit flat.

I joked about the Warriors’ exit from the NRL playoff race, but the report into NZR’s finances indicates that competition is more widely watched than Super Rugby Pacific and the NPC. I never thought I’d see the day.

Not routinely having our best players turn out for teams in Japan or Ireland would surely help.

It gives me no joy to be gloomy. I approached this year with great optimism, after the upheaval of Scott Robertson’s removal as All Blacks coach.

It’s easy to be a prisoner of the moment and look at things, such as the 3-1 series defeat to the Springboks, and say the sky’s falling in. I tried to see the bigger picture instead and the possibilities for growth and improvement in the All Blacks.

This team’s best rugby is still ahead of it, but the clock is ticking and they’ll be at the 2027 Rugby World Cup before we know it.

Beating England in November would help, otherwise we’re all – fans, pundits, players, coaches and administrators – going into next year with hope but not a lot of confidence.

But, hey, at least the Warriors lost.