All Blacks’ record against the best will determine if we are closer to reclaiming the Webb Ellis Cup – Editorial

Captain Scott Barrett has said the All Blacks have not fronted up some weeks. Photo / Getty Images

“It wasn’t pretty but we hung tough.”

Those were the words of All Blacks captain Scott Barrett early yesterday after beating the Wallabies in Perth.

The positive for Scott Robertson’s men was that the team finished the Rugby Championship by finally getting back-to-back wins. However, it was ultimately an unsuccessful and inconsistent campaign.

The Springboks, with their mix of veteran power and injection of young, dynamic playmakers, once again proved to be the best of the class.

South Africa’s record-breaking and rampant win in Wellington showed even the most diehard All Blacks fans, and no doubt the coaches and selectors too, that we’re on the wrong side of a gap – albeit a small one – between rugby’s two greatest rivals.

The gap between the All Blacks and Wallabies, however, is at Grand Canyon scales and the once-great rivalry has become historically one-sided. It is now 11 straight victories for the All Blacks over the men in gold.

Argentina must now be seen as a greater threat to beat the All Blacks every year, both home and away.

“Throughout this Rugby Championship, we’ve learnt we need to front up every week when you put the All Blacks jersey on. A couple of times, we clearly didn’t do that. Those are tough lessons. This group has a few scars from that,” Barrett said about the tournament.

While this year’s Australian team appear improved, perhaps thanks largely to Kiwi coach Joe Schmidt, the Wallabies still have a long way to go before they could be considered a serious World Cup threat when they host the tournament in 2027.

The All Blacks now take a three-week break before returning for their four-match “Grand Slam” tour in November, where the first challenge comes from Ireland, one of the great match-ups in rugby of the past decade.

It will take place at Soldier Field in Chicago, the scene of the Emerald Isle‘s historic first win over New Zealand in 2016. Since then, it’s been a coin flip between these two teams when trying to predict a result.

After that, the All Blacks face a strong Scotland side, the always mouth-watering fixture of England at Twickenham, before finishing with a weak Wales team. Unfortunately, they won’t play a full-strength French team this year.

Rugby World Cup talk has already started with the tournament expanded to 24 teams and theories about which team might be in each pool. We are close enough now for all of these games to be considered preparation for the ultimate goal of reclaiming the Webb Ellis Cup.

By the end of November, our combined 2025 results against South Africa, Ireland, England and Argentina will tell us if Razor and his team are closer to achieving that goal or not.