In their case, there has been a rise in defeats and a resulting exponential drop in public acceptance of where their performance and outcome benchmarks now lie.
As an example, pre-Covid there was zero tolerance towards losing to Argentina.
Now, the Pumas have done it three times, and when they won in Wellington last month, there was no indignation, no jamming of social media to profess the collapse of a rugby empire.
Losing occasionally to Argentina is now accepted as a probability rather than as an unimaginable disaster.
So too has the whole relationship with Ireland been redefined as one where they hold the balance of power.
These days the public watch the All Blacks play Ireland more in hope than expectation, and there’s a high likelihood that when the two sides meet in Dublin this November, New Zealanders will see a close defeat as a reasonable outcome.
This isn’t anecdotal so much as statistical fact. The All Blacks have played the Pumas 10 times post-Covid for a 70% win ratio. Before 2020, the All Blacks never lost to Argentina.
The creep with Ireland began earlier, with the All Blacks losing for the first time in their history in 2016, before losing again in 2018.
Still, their pre-record win ratio against the Irish was 92%. Their post-Covid record is 40%, and so again, a scenario that was once unimaginable is now accepted as the norm.
But the exception to this benchmark erosion has been the Bledisloe Cup.
Since the pandemic hit, the All Blacks have played the Wallabies 11 times. The former has won nine, drawn once and lost once – and so have been unbeaten in 90% of their post-Covid fixtures against Australia.
Pre-Covid, the All Blacks were unbeaten in 73% of their fixtures against the Wallabies and so a hard line is likely to remain on how the nation would feel about the All Blacks losing either of their two upcoming Bledisloe fixtures.
No one in New Zealand is yet ready to say that it is okay to lose to the Wallabies.
Argentina some of the time, yes. Ireland more than half of the time, yes. South Africa all the time, yes - but the Wallabies never.
Rugby’s world order has seen dramatic shifts in recent years, all sorts of new power dynamics play out, one of which has been the accelerated demise of the Wallabies.
Their decline may not be terminal, but the most optimistic recovery timeline for the Wallabies has them becoming moderately competitive by the end of this World Cup cycle.
They can become a genuine world force again, but right now they have such a weak pack, such low confidence, and such little recent history of winning big games, that it would be a travesty if the All Blacks lost.
Victory, this week in Sydney, is therefore a non-negotiable for the All Blacks, but it is one that they also have to achieve with half an eye to their end-of-year tour.
Back-to-back tests against Australia, with Japan looming after that, is as soft a run as the All Blacks have in 2024 – a bridge between a brutal opening and an even tougher ending.
What the next three tests, therefore, represent are an opportunity for Scott Robertson to not just bank three wins, but to establish just what his top team is, build a little depth in the process, and to generate a detailed plan how the All Blacks are going to approach - selection and strategy - the challenge of playing consecutive games against England, Ireland and France in November.
Specifically, Robertson needs to ask whether he is going to commit to using Wallace Sititi at blindside or reconfigure his back-row to use the youngster at No 8, return Ardie Savea to openside and continue the search for the right player at No 6?
Will he be prepared to at least try this as an option against Australia, and have it up his sleeve to keep England, Ireland and France guessing?
Can he learn how to use Tupou Vaa’i and Patrick Tuipolutu in an 80-minute job share?
They play the same position but are different athletes with different skill-sets, and so can the All Blacks work out which of them to start, which to bring off the bench and when to do it during the game?
And can Robertson fix on what to do about Beauden Barrett, and by association, make a long-term plan on where to use Will Jordan?
There are a lot of questions for Robertson to answer these next two tests, but whatever answers are produced, they must come alongside two victories.
