The All Blacks used to be about the never-ending pursuit of perfection

I expect the All Blacks to beat South Africa at Eden Park.

At the risk of repetition, this iteration of the team learns nothing from victory. They’ll be embarrassed and hurt by the defeat to Argentina in Buenos Aires and respond accordingly.

I can imagine the pats on the back they’ll get, already.

While I firmly believe the All Blacks will rouse themselves for the occasion on September 6, I still harbour grave doubts about the brains in that outfit.

Smith on Eden Park challenge

Smith on Eden Park challenge

Their game awareness appears to be nil. As they have for some time now, the All Blacks rarely react to what the opposition is showing them.

No, they run their plays as they were drawn up in the team meeting, regardless of how well the defence reads them. They seek contact, rather than space, and respond
with bemusement when none of their obvious tactics work.

At this point, the All Blacks’ attack is so poor that they might as well do things like trying to win kickable penalties from a scum infringement or launch a few dropped goals.

It’s better than banging their heads against brick walls, which is about all their attack consists of at the moment.

The maddening decisions aren’t limited to those on the paddock. Every time a player is replaced during a match, I find myself wondering why.

There’s no feel for what’s happening, just a script that says this bloke is going off at this predetermined time.

Much has been said and written about centre Billy Proctor, so far this season. Hopes are high that he can ignite the backline and a few folk appear down in the dumps that he hasn’t.

As I’ve written before, I think the team’s struggles out wide say more about the methods being employed than the ability of the individual players.

That said, I thought Proctor was among the All Blacks’ best, in the 29-23 loss to the Pumas. With or without the ball, Proctor was industrious, accurate and just starting to show that he belongs at this level.

Which was his cue to make way for Quinn Tupaea.

I’ve nothing against Tupaea, but that change on Sunday morning (NZ time) was emblematic of so many that we see from these All Blacks. Tupaea’s impact and involvement were non-existent, as is the case with many of the substitutions Scott Robertson makes.

A player who is performing well leaves the field and the next man up either doesn’t know what his job is or doesn’t have the ability to execute the job he’s been given.

The result is a worsening in the level of performance, rather than the impact we’ve been conditioned to expect.

I know I’m not alone in expressing frustration at how disjointed the All Blacks become once the starters begin leaving the field.

In the interests of fairness, though, I do want to raise a rare exception.

To my mind, Beauden Barrett and Damian McKenzie cannot coexist in the same backline. But, in replacing Barrett with McKenzie on Sunday, a point of difference was created and the team did look more dangerous as a result.

This was one of the very, very few occasions where change was a good thing.

I’d be more philosophical about all this if teams such as Australia and Argentina weren’t showing an ability to put people in space or gain impetus from their benches.

This All Blacks team doesn’t look to be in much danger of transforming anytime soon. They’ll have good days and not-so-good days, without ever being outstanding or abysmal.

They’re an okay team, whose performances and results will reflect that.

The part that interests me now, is how the fanbase responds.

For a long time, one of the strengths of All Black rugby (in my opinion) was the external demand for excellence. Winning often wasn’t even enough for supporters, the team had to win well too.

No-one, inside or outside the team, was ever satisfied. The pursuit of perfection was never ending.

As losses, such as this latest one to Argentina, accumulate, I suspect some people are less invested in the team. They’ve come to expect mediocrity and, low and behold, that’s what they often get.

It would be a sad day, maybe even a day from which rugby in New Zealand never recovered, if that became the prevailing view.

I think the unbeaten run at Eden Park will continue and that, for one week at least, the All Blacks will again win public hearts and minds.

But unless they start having uncomfortable conversations with one another and unless hard and maybe unpopular personnel decisions start to get made, I think the All Blacks risk becoming just another franchise rather than the pride of New Zealand.