KEY POINTS:
The statistics are damning and they are only going to be worse once 2008 is factored in.
The Northern Hemisphere have won just 37 per cent of November home games since 2000. If tests against Argentina and the Pacific Islands were discounted, that would drop to around 15
per cent.
Since 2000, the All Blacks have played 22 tests in Europe before this morning (discounting World Cups) and won 20. They lost to France in 2000 and an under-strength team were defeated at Twickenham in 2002.
In that same period, again not counting World Cups, the All Blacks have played Northern Hemisphere opponents 22 times at home in the June window and won 21. That puts their winning ratio against Northern Hemisphere teams since 2000 at 93 per cent. Only England, in 2003, have beaten them in New Zealand in the past nine years.
For all Southern Hemisphere teams, the winning ratio in the June window since 2000 is 86 per cent. When these figures are analysed, it is impossible not to wonder how this gulf has developed.
For the past nine years the All Blacks have come to Europe at this time of year, heard an awful lot of positive talk from their opponents but only twice has it been followed with action.
So what do the All Blacks, Australia and South Africa have that the Home Nations, France and Italy don't?
This list could be extensive but it comes down to skill, composure and vision.
There is no question Northern Hemisphere sides are producing raw athletes with the physicality to compete. Even this year, when the All Blacks defeated England by big margins in successive weeks, the home side struggled with the aggression and technique of the English forwards at the collision.
The set-piece work of every side the All Blacks have encountered on this trip has been high quality. Even the Scots were difficult at the scrum, possibly verging on dominant.
Defensively, too, all the Home Unions can tackle, hold their structure and put it about. The passion they bring to the contest is special and the mental intensity as high as it is in the Tri Nations.
Every test is the same. They fail to match the skill of the All Blacks. With the exception of Wales, forwards in the North are not encouraged, or not able, to offload in the contact as well as their Southern Hemisphere counterparts.
The game down south has greater tempo and momentum as a result of the ball being kept alive in the thick traffic as ball carriers attack space, try to stay on their feet and keep the ball moving.
That's in contrast to the style in vogue up here, where forwards more usually look to make contact and go to ground. If they are confronted with a faster game, they struggle with the pace and many look as if they are short of aerobic fitness.
After the All Blacks beat Ireland, the home side received no mercy from their own press.
"This was the third and most convincing leg of a Saturday afternoon whitewash which proved once more that we are really playing for the consolation prizes in this half of the planet," wrote the Sunday Independent.
"Vaunt the European Cup all you like, try to pretend the Six Nations is meaningful in an international context but in your heart of hearts, you know we are marooned at the lower levels."
In the backs, the difference in skill is more pronounced. The Irish believe they have a backline of some ability yet weren't able to make much headway against the All Blacks. There were flashes but nothing that made anyone think they could chop the best defence to ribbons.
It's not just the skill level, though, that is markedly different. It is the ability to execute the skill under pressure. The All Blacks can make passes with bodies in their faces. They can deliver when the defence is at its most ferocious.
In the North, half the players just can't make the pass, while the other half melt down if they have to do it when they are rushed.
The weather makes a major difference to the style of rugby played. Super 14 is mainly dry ball on a fast, hard track. Guinness Premiership and Magners League tends to be wetter, slower and more attritional. The game is built more around territory and there is a lot of tactical kicking. That has built a culture of playing to patterns rather than reacting to what can be seen.
On this tour, there has been ample evidence of sides just not being aware of potential attacking opportunities. That culture of spontaneity is not prevalent in the North and their lack of vision costs them points.
Ever the diplomat, All Black assistant coach Wayne Smith says that, while the All Blacks have achieved results, none came easily.
"I just know about us and we have put a lot of work in to beat them," he said of the Home Unions. "We have put a lot in to the emotional side to make sure we always have an edge. It is always a battle. It is not as if we just go out there and beat them. A lot of people think it is but it is not. It is very difficult.
"I don't think one is better than the other, it's just that we play differently. Which you are going to when most of our players are involved in Super 14 on hard tracks, so they are bound to develop a way of playing that is different to them playing here in the middle of winter. It is not better or worse, it's just different.
"We know we have to match them in the tough places. If you can't match them up front and match them for passion and physicality, then it doesn't matter how good your backs are. That is always the challenge here."
