2010 All Blacks vs 2025 Team: Two Eras, One Jersey, Worlds Apart In Quality

Comparing the 2010 Grand Slam All Blacks to Scott Robertson’s 2025 squad shows a stark contrast in dominance, consistency and belief ahead of 2027.

Oct 28, 2025 by Philip Bendon

2010 All Blacks vs 2025 Team: Two Eras, One Jersey, Worlds Apart In Quality

There is a lot of mythology that follows the All Blacks around Europe.

Black jerseys under the lights, anthems swallowed by boos and then the haka cutting through it. Respect and resentment in the same breath.

But there are tours, and then there are Grand Slam tours. And, in modern All Blacks history, nobody did it better than the 2010 group.

New Zealand went north in November 2010 and handled its business. England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales. Four games, four wins.

That group did not just win; they imposed themselves. They ripped through Scotland 49-3. They shut down Ireland 38-18 in Dublin on the night Graham Henry hit his 100th test win.

They finished the job in Cardiff, beating Wales 37-25 to seal their fourth Grand Slam, while Hosea Gear scored twice, and Dan Carter rewrote the sport’s record books.

That team was violent at the collision, ruthless at the breakdown and cold when it mattered. It also was a transitional side, which in hindsight, should terrify everyone.

This was not a last dance team at the end of a cycle. This was a side that was just getting going.

Captain Richie McCaw was at the peak of his control. Dan Carter was still Dan Carter. Jerome Kaino was smashing bodies for fun. Kieran Read was still becoming Kieran Read. Sam Whitelock was a kid. Sonny Bill Williams had just arrived in test rugby and was immediately offloading grown men out of his way.

The back three was Mils Muliaina, Cory Jane and whomever you felt like punishing defenders with next. That is the standard we are talking about.

Now park that thumbnail for a second and look at where the All Blacks are in 2025 under Scott Robertson.

There is talk again of a northern tour, and the word Grand Slam is back in circulation.

Scott Barrett, now captain, said openly that chasing that clean sweep is one of the targets for this group as they arrived in Chicago to face Ireland, then Scotland, then England, then Wales.

The schedule mirrors the 2010 path. The ambition certainly does. The problem is the comparison.

Because the honest read is this - the 2010 All Blacks were significantly better than the current squad. Not marginally. Significantly. And you can feel it most in two areas: authority and certainty.

Authority first.

That 2010 side walked into stadiums expecting to win, and everyone else in the building knew they were right. The results tell you why.

New Zealand lost one match in the entire calendar year, a 26-24 blip to Australia in Hong Kong. Everything else, the All Blacks controlled. They came to Europe off the back of a Tri-Nations title.

Henry's side had been punishing Northern Hemisphere packs for a month.

They had a midfield of Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith, who could play you off the park with brains or just run through you. They had Carter, who had just become the leading points scorer in the history of test rugby with a penalty from halfway in Cardiff.

This was a team that could beat you with tempo, with offloads, with set-piece accuracy or with pure defensive will.

Look at the Wales match that sealed the Slam - Wales actually played well.

Stephen Jones hit six penalties, and Lee Byrne scored late. The crowd was alive.

At one point in the second half, Wales trailed 13-12 after Daniel Braid was sent to the bin.

In other words, the All Blacks were creaking. Vulnerable. And what happened next is what separates greatness from noise.

Gear scored in the corner off a movement that started from a missed touch finder. Carter nailed the extras from the touchline. Wales clawed back. New Zealand fired again. Anthony Boric broke and fed Isaia Toeava for the kill. Then, John Afoa, a replacement tighthead, trotted in under the posts to rub it in. That is what authority looks like. You threaten them, they end you. No panic. No looseness. Just punishment.

Now, ask yourself this. Does the current All Blacks squad carry that same threat when the game gets dirty?

There have been flashes, for sure. There still is quality everywhere, because this is still New Zealand.

Ardie Savea, vice captain, remains one of the most relentless loose forwards on the planet. Scott Barrett leads with bite. Codie Taylor is still abrasive in contact. Jordie Barrett, Beauden Barrett and Damian McKenzie give Scott Robertson options in terms of game management, kicking, counterattack and late-game tempo. Will Jordan is an automatic try threat whenever he is upright and healthy. The talent level is not the question.

The issue is certainty.

You do not know which version of this team is going to show up, and that is new.

Under Robertson, the All Blacks have produced an 11-game run over Australia, they have found ways to win ugly, and they have shown they can adapt week to week. But the lows have been historic.

This season alone, they lost to Argentina in Argentina for the first time ever. They were beaten by South Africa in Wellington by a record margin. Those are not normal All Black outcomes. Those are alarm bells.

In 2010, New Zealand was dominant but also ruthless about standards.

When Wales got a sniff, the All Blacks shut the door immediately. When Ireland came flying out in Dublin and smashed into them phase after phase, the response was not panic. It was a system.

Carter kicked goals. McCaw and Kaino enforced the breakdown. Kieran Read and Jerome Kaino punched holes and kept punching holes. The All Blacks strangled Ireland with possession, then hit them with layered strike plays until Ireland cracked. Four tries to two at Aviva Stadium, and the coach hit 100 test wins that night. That is system-level certainty.

Contrast that with 2025.

Robertson talks about learning, about growth, about scars. He is not wrong. But listen to the language. This is a group that is still trying to find itself in Year 2, while that 2010 side knew exactly what it was. It was physical, clinical and savage at punishing mistakes. It did not need you to give it chaos. It created its own.

And that feeds into the World Cup picture.

The 2010 All Blacks rolled into 2011 as clear favorites. They were composed, seasoned and had depth everywhere. Look at the squad list again - Richie McCaw, Kieran Read, Jerome Kaino and Adam Thomson in the loose forwards. Brad Thorn and Sam Whitelock in the second row. Keven Mealamu and Corey Flynn at hooker. Tony Woodcock, Owen Franks and John Afoa at prop. That is a forward pack that wins you trophies in any era.

Behind them, you had Carter, Jimmy Cowan and Andy Ellis running the game. You had Nonu and Conrad Smith in midfield. You had Sonny Bill Williams as an off-the-bench weapon. You had Mils Muliaina, Cory Jane, Joe Rokocoko and a young Ben Smith in the back three rotation. That is ridiculous depth. That is a squad that can survive injury, pressure, weather, refereeing chaos, all of it.

Now, look at the 2025 group that is about to chase another Slam.

Barrett is the captain. Savea is the vice captain. Jordie Barrett and Anton Lienert Brown lead the midfield. McKenzie is likely to drive the attack in the 10 or 15 channel with Beauden Barrett alongside him.

Caleb Clarke, Sevu Reece and Will Jordan headline the back three.

Up front, there is plenty of promise, with Ethan de Groot, Tamaiti Williams, Fletcher Newell and George Bell representing the next wave of All Black tight five talent.

The ceiling is high. The problem is that too many of those players are still learning how to dominate at the test level every single week, not just in bursts.

Which brings us to 2027.

The 2010 side delivered two Rugby World Cup titles in the next five years. That tells you all you need to know about their level.

This current squad is not there yet. They are dangerous, they are ambitious, they have game breakers and on their day, they can put anyone away. But they also give you chances.

Argentina proved that. South Africa humiliated them in Wellington. And that matters because World Cups are not won by teams that give you chances.

Scott Robertson has a Grand Slam tour in front of him, and he is talking openly about the weight of All Black history. He should. History is the standard. The truth right now is blunt. The 2010 All Blacks set that standard. The 2025 All Blacks are chasing it.

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