With the Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup stowed away and consistency starting to return to the All Blacks, coach Ian Foster is looking to "build" on the foundations during this year's Northern tour.
The All Blacks put on a public training session in Nelson today ahead of their tour at the end of the month, coming together as a squad after a short break following the conclusion of the Rugby Championship.
With four wins from their last five Tests, the All Blacks have buried some of the demons haunting them from last year's tour and the start of the season but Foster knows England, Wales and Scotland will provide new challenges for his side.
"When you look at Test matches, they're called Test matches for a reason," Foster said today.
"We just want to build strong. We need to look at every opportunity we can - we haven't had a lot of opportunities to go up north in this World Cup cycle so we've just got to treasure this tour and the opportunities it represents."
With that in mind, Foster made no promises to appease everyone's hopes of game time on the four-Test tour which starts against Japan in Tokyo on October 29.
"The goal is to grow our team performance," he said.
"So we're making all sorts of assessments on players, on how they're training and energy levels and the opportunities they need to have.
"It's not possible to please every individual and give them everything they want but we certainly know we want to give players as many opportunities as we can in order for them to grow."
Before arriving in the UK, though, the All Blacks take on Japan in a match Foster isn't taking lightly.
"If you go to the last World Cup, they won a couple of big games and they've played really well against France and Australia A recently so they're very well prepared," Foster said of the Brave Blossoms.
"We know that they're a growing nation and this is a Test that they're certainly going to target so nothing changes. Everyone we play is going to be ready to play us."
While he wasn't "looking ahead" to the England Test at Twickenham - the All Blacks' first against Eddie Jones' men since their 19-7 semi-final defeat at the last Rugby World Cup - Foster noted that fixture would be one to look forward to.
"Playing England at Twickenham is always special and the fact we haven't played them since 2019 in a game I remember well is going to make it even more important."
McKenzie, ABs XV on Foster's radar
Foster also noted two other important matches happening during their time in the UK - the All Blacks XV's games against Ireland A and the Barbarians.
Selectors, including Foster, named the inaugural squad for the two-game tour on Monday with plenty of talent spread throughout.
One name in particular that caught the attention of punters was playmaker Damian McKenzie, who was named to the squad after returning from his season in Japan.
Foster said McKenzie was still a chance of making his way back to the premier squad, with the 27-year-old given instructions on what he needs to do with his chances later this year.
"[He just needs to] continue on how he's gone really," said Foster. "He's been playing at 10, playing at 15.
"He's made some adjustments since he's come back. We rate Damian really highly.
"This is a great chance for him to go up north, and help guide that All Blacks [XV] team around."
Alongside McKenzie, the development side also features other experienced All Blacks such as prop Angus Ta'avao, halfbacks TJ Perenara and Brad Weber and lock Patrick Tuipulotu - the latter serving as captain for the tour.
"This Test series along with the B team we've got going up is giving us a good opportunity to spread our base a little bit," Foster said.
SHARE ME