When you're winning, being an All Blacks captain is easy - but when you're losing, the armchair experts don't hold back.
While All Blacks skipper Sam Cane rates most fans highly, he has a problem with the "brutal" ones.
"They may like to think they know a lot about the game of rugby, but in reality they don't really," he has told Sky's Breakdown. "They may know the game from what they see in the 80 minutes, but they don't see a lot of the stuff that goes on behind the scenes."
Cane's comments have certainly upset a few All Blacks fans, but most seem to side with the skipper.
One man who never had to deal with a public backlash is former All Blacks captain Wayne 'Buck' Shelford, who led the team in 14 tests without defeat, but still knows how fickle the public can be.
"If you lose, they really get into you," he says. "A lot of them don't realise how hard it is when the rest of the world is always catching us up and sometimes they've caught us up - and we will lose.
And even if the All Blacks win their final test of the year against Argentina next weekend, Shelford doesn't think that will silence the critics.
"New Zealanders hold onto grudges for a long time," he says. "I think it won't disappear straight away, but they have to win and win well to get them back onside quickly."
And Cane understands why some fans are upset.
"We're frustrated and disappointed ourselves, so I don't expect them to be any different," he says.
Next weekend's rematch and a chance to silence the critics can't come soon enough for the All Blacks,
Join us on November 28 for live updates of the All Blacks v Argentina Tri Nations clash
