Is this the most dominant ABs side ever? Not quite yet
Based on their share of points, the 2016 side still have some work to do.
Has the gulf between the All Blacks and the rest of world rugby ever been so great?
In seven test matches, against teams ranked No 3, No 4, No 5 and No 7 in the world, the All Blacks have scored 391 points and conceded just 101.
Another way of looking at it, is that the All Blacks have scored 74.2 per cent of the points in these games, out-scoring their opponents by three to one. In the Rugby Championship they have been marginally more dominant, scoring 76.5 per cent of the points.
With two (admittedly difficult) away games to go the 2016 All Blacks are on track to be the most dominant All Blacks team in Rugby Championship history. But how does the 2016 team compare to great All Blacks teams from the past?
Using points share as a measuring stick, the we ranked every All Blacks season.
Only tests against Home Nations teams, France, Rugby Championship teams, the Lions and the World XV were included. Seasons in which the All Blacks played less than four tests against these opponents were excluded.
In all 59 teams (or seasons) made the cut, but none could top the very first of these - the Originals of 1904/05, who scored 81.7 per cent of the points in six tests against Australia, Scotland, Ireland, England, Wales and France.
Despite that dominance on an aggregate level, the Originals did lose one of these tests - a 3-0 defeat to Wales in Cardiff.
In second place was another legendary team - the 1924/25 Invincibles. They played four tests against Ireland, Wales, England and France.
Their point share of 80.9 per cent is so close to the Originals that the difference is negligible given the small number of tests played. However,
The Invincibles played 32 games, winning 32 and out-scoring their opponents 838-116.
they can - as their name would suggest - claim the unbeaten tag, so perhaps this gives them an edge?
It’s worth noting that for the Originals and Invincibles these official tests only accounted for a small proportion of their tours. The Invincibles played 32 games, winning 32 and out-scoring their opponents 838-116. While the Originals played 35 games, losing only to Wales and out-scoring their opponents 976-59.
It would be more than six decades before an All Blacks team would have a points share record approaching these two great sides.
The 1987 team outscored their opponents at the first ever Rugby World Cup by four points to one, scoring a tick over 80 per cent of the points in games against Scotland, Wales, France and Australia.
The following year in 1988 they were just as dominant in two home tests against Wales and three away against the Wallabies, where they again scored 80 per cent of the points.
The 1989 team would also win five games from five against top tier opposition.
Taken as a whole, this three-year period represents an era of dominance.
Fourteen tests were played against top tier opponents, for 13 wins and a draw and they scored 76.2 per cent of the points.
Which brings us to the current team, who have scored 74.2 per cent of the points in their games this season, that has them in fifth place on our all-time rankings, albeit with an asterisk next to their name.
With the majority of their remaining games away from home, they may find maintaining a point share approaching 80 per cent difficult.
If they can achieve it and remain unbeaten then we can begin to talk about them as the most dominant All Blacks team in history.
* A team on a tour spanning two separate calendar years was considered one ‘team’. Otherwise each calendar year of games was classed as one ‘team’.