Bye week in the Rugby Championship will evoke sleepless nights for All Blacks coach Scott Robertson as he prepares a plan to defend fortress Eden Park against the Springboks.
Next week was always going to feature the biggest match of the calendar year but returning home following the All Blacks maiden loss in Argentina leaves Robertson with his back pressed to the wall, amid a cacophony of criticism, in need of a decisive response.
Welcoming the world champion Springboks to any New Zealand town elevates interest to fever pitch but putting Eden Park's 31-year, 50 match unbeaten status on the line promises to grip the nation and, indeed, the rugby world.
After their loss to the Pumas, and ahead of the showdown with the Boks, Liam Napier assesses where the All Blacks must seek immediate improvements.
DISCIPLINE:
Five yellow cards in their last two outings - 17 in 19 Tests under Robertson - is fast becoming a major issue. The All Blacks aren't a dirty team, but their needless, avoidable brain snaps are proving costly.
Test rugby depicts a tightly contested climate where any of the top seven teams could feasibly knock each other over on any given day.
This Rugby Championship is testament to that fraught landscape, with all four teams registering one victory from two attempts, to further highlight the need for the All Blacks to regain their self-destructive heads.
While one man short the All Blacks under Robertson have conceded 51 points, scoring 16, to drive home the advantage cards hand the opposition.
The worry for Robertson is the All Blacks discipline is getting worse.
A 21-point half time lead in their opening Rugby Championship success was quickly whittled down after the All Blacks conceded two second half yellow cards against the Pumas in Cordoba, leaving two late maul tries to bail them out of a hole.
The following week in Buenos Aires the All Blacks weren't so fortunate. This time they were unable to source the composure to overturn a 13-point deficit resulting from two yellow cards. Even when they reduced the Pumas lead to six points, a third card killed off hopes of a comeback. Talk about coach killer moments.
This is not a new topic. Robertson is a stickler for discipline and has addressed it many times since assuming charge. But the All Blacks must now walk the talk or risk gifting the keys to Garden.
HAPLESS UNDER THE HIGH BALL:
For a nation that has produced some of the world's greatest finishers, the All Blacks wing stocks are desperately thin.
Selection is an issue on this front, too. Dating back to last year Robertson has allowed Sevu Reece far too much faith. Reece lacks pace for a Test wing and with the Pumas the latest team to expose the All Blacks under the high ball, the Crusaders finisher must be on borrowed time.
Rieko Ioane's switch from centre to the edge has not paid off, either. Prior to this season Ioane last played on the wing four years ago - and it shows. He, too, has struggled to defuse high balls while also lacking the eagerness to chase, contest and regather kicks.
The All Blacks are desperately missing Caleb Clarke, their best wing exponent in the air. After returning to provincial rugby from an ankle injury this weekend, Clarke could well be injected into start on the left edge against the Springboks.
Mark Telea's absence - as he prepares to depart New Zealand rugby for a lucrative three-year deal in Japan - has also been widely overlooked.
Last year Clarke and Tele'a were the incumbent All Blacks finishes. This year the All Blacks wings have consistently been found wanting.
Chiefs wings Emoni Narawa and Leroy Carter should have been embraced more by now. Longer term, 22-year-old Highlanders speedster Caleb Tangitau could emerge as a serious prospect.
For now, though, the All Blacks must devise swift solutions to their high ball woes. With Handre Pollard back in the driver's seat, the Boks are certain to continue the aerial assault.
Will Jordan's struggles under the high ball in the defeat to the Pumas - in part due to a lack of support - stress this area is among the All Blacks' most pressing concerns.
"It's a tough night for the team and myself personally," Jordan said in Buenos Aires. "The high ball we had challenges in that space. There's been a rule change in the last year and teams have really levelled up to compete. We knew it was coming but we didn't do a good job of nullifying it. We have to find a solution because it's going to be a challenge for us moving forward."
CLUNKY ATTACK:
The All Blacks have been open with their intent to embrace a fast, up-tempo style this year.
With powerful, athletic, ball playing forwards, the likes of Ardie Savea, Wallace Sititi and Tamaiti Williams, there's no reason they can't utilise offloads to break teams open.
This year, though, the All Blacks attack is consistently misfiring. Their scrum, maul and lineout are their strengths with clunky movements from the backs often blowing chances to strike.
Something isn't right. Combinations aren't gelling.
A once undeniable weapon of New Zealand rugby has been largely smothered into submission.
In Argentina the All Blacks managed three line breaks from two outings, despite scoring nine tries.
On the back of a mountain of possession and their numerical advantage the Pumas, in their Buenos Aires triumph, recorded seven line breaks to the All Blacks' one.
With pace and movement the Wallabies broke the Springboks open in South Africa. If the All Blacks are to follow suit they must regain confidence and reignite their spark, particularly on the counterattack from the backfield.
DEFENSIVE FRAILTIES:
Defensive concerns can, in part, be attributed to being forced to scramble while one man short but missing 40 tackles is an alarming number for the All Blacks.
Viewed in isolation this could, somewhat, be cast as an aberration, a one-off poor performance.
Yet the All Blacks missed 25 tackles the previous week against the Pumas, too, which suggests deeper system malfunctions are at play.
GLASS HALF FULL:
One dire performance doesn't render this All Blacks team inept overnight. Far from it. While their vulnerabilities are clear their strengths up front and at the set piece match up well with a Springboks side that has, thus far this year, been well short of their best too.
There is no need to manufacture a tense edge next week, but the All Blacks traditionally respond to a defeat with a bounce back performance, particularly at Eden Park.
The heat is on Robertson and his coaching team to drive change through selection and improvements but so, too, it is important to not panic and try to tackle too much which will only spread anxiousness and clutter the squad.
Successive Tests against the Springboks were always going to define the All Blacks season. The backdrop of a historic defeat only intensifies that spotlight.
"We've got really high standards that have been set by other teams, and we've got to reach them each week," Robertson said. "Each Test has its own story and we've got to write it the best we can through effort and tonight we didn't show it.
"We'll acknowledge what we need to get better at and own it and move forward quickly."