In unfamiliar slump, All Blacks face up to a familiar foe

THERE seems to be precious little for the All Blacks to cling on to as the world’s most successful rugby team tries to climb out of its worst slump in 24 years.

Coach Ian Foster’s job is hanging by a thread and his two most senior assistant coaches have already been cut loose, both fired following the historic series loss at home to Ireland last month. Captain Sam Cane is under scrutiny for his leadership and there are also calls for him to be replaced.

New Zealand’s media has turned on its favorite sports team — and maybe the country’s most revered institution — by relentlessly hammering home for the last two weeks that four losses in five games is more than a poor run of form when it comes to the All Blacks. It’s a crisis.

The last time New Zealand had a worse set of results was in 1998, the early years