Where once they were renowned for their explosive athletes, now they have less of those, but more brain explosions.
The All Blacks remain the game’s most instinctive team, it’s just that these days, they are also the most impulsive team – powerless to curb their urges and stay on the right side of the law.
Penalty counts and yellow cards are killing the All Blacks – and have been since 2020, suggesting the problem is not coach or environment specific, but a wider issue plaguing New Zealand rugby.
There was plenty to like about the way the All Blacks battled to win at Twickenham – the depth of character, the precision finishing when the half chances came up, the composure to think straight when momentum was slipping away.
But as England’s George Ford lined up to strike his last minute drop goal attempt, it was impossible not to wonder whether all this tension and drama could have been avoided had New Zealand not crippled themselves by conceding so many avoidable penalties.
There’s so much talk of rugby’s archaic and complex laws and teams being held hostage by the vagaries of referee interpretations, but the All Blacks are not getting lost in translation or being duped around the margins.
By halftime at Twickenham the All Blacks had conceded eight penalties to England’s one and nearly all of them were the cause of players being impetuous, epitomised by Will Jordan playing Marcus Smith before the English No 10 had been allowed to regain his feet after falling on a loose ball.
These infringements have big consequences in the context of a close game. Smith had no support and was deep inside his 22, and if Jordan had just followed a simple law, the All Blacks would have inevitably stayed in England’s 22, instead of being sent back to halfway where the home side would also have the lineout.
Then there was Caleb Clarke’s deliberate knock-on – his claim to innocence being lodged on the basis that his hand hit the ball in the act of making a legitimate tackle.
Maybe, but the exaggerated arm span to make the wrap always left open the possibility of his hand interfering with a pass, and as we see this technique employed throughout Super Rugby, it does seem this is viewed by New Zealand’s coaching fraternity as a ploy to be encouraged.
In the end the All Blacks conceded 11 penalties to England’s seven, but the big difference was that nearly all of England’s infringements were induced by the pressure New Zealand exerted – scrum and turnover - while as many as eight of the All Blacks penalties were avoidable – committed with a casual disregard for the laws.
And the England test is not a sample size of one. Trawl through the last four years and the story in the big games has been consistent – the All Blacks concede too many needless penalties, incur the wrath of the officials and invariably, almost always, end up with someone being carded.
When they lost to France in 2021 there was a yellow card, as there was in the opening game of the World Cup.
In the Ireland series in 2022, they had two yellows and a red in the second test, a yellow in the third.
A red and yellow against South Africa in the World Cup final, and yellows in both their tests in the republic this year as well.
There were even two yellow cards in the World Cup quarter-final win against Ireland last year.
All this lazy and crazy stuff has to stop, because it is undeniably the core issue preventing the All Blacks from fulfilling their potential.
Ireland have climbed to the top of the world rankings not by pushing the boundaries of the law or by giving into their impulses, but by respecting the importance of good discipline as a tool to mount pressure on opposition.
Most countries appear to have given up on the idea that by default they should see what they can get away with and work back from there, leaving New Zealand as the lone practitioner of believing that the referee will adapt to them and not the other way around.
The rules are clear, and the players are professional, so you have to wonder where the confusion lies.
The only reasonable guess is that New Zealand’s elite are being developed through systems that don’t do enough to promote the importance of playing within the law.
Finding ways to circumnavigate the laws, or test boundaries are likely over encouraged around a weakly constructed argument that this constitutes innovation and ingenuity.
Whatever is behind it, though, the All Blacks need a fix because they won’t clean up until they clean up.
All Blacks v Ireland, Saturday 9.10am
Live commentary on Newstalk ZB, Gold Sport and iHeartRadio. Live match blog at nzherald.co.nz
Gregor Paul is one of New Zealand’s most respected rugby writers and columnists. He has won multiple awards for journalism and written several books about sport.
