NZ Rugby boss Mark Robinson has fired a warning shot at the All Blacks, after their historic series loss to Ireland - but has stopped short of openly endorsing or condemning the current coaching group.
For the second consecutive week - and fourth time in five outings under coach Ian Foster - the national rugby team were comprehensively outplayed by northern hemisphere opponents, with the Irish further enhancing their superiority over their rivals.
Three of those last four defeats have been at the hands of Ireland.
In the series decider, the All Blacks allowed the tourists another fast start, faced a 19-point deficit at halftime and were unable to pull that back, despite a second-half comeback, to fall 32-22.
"Congratulations to the Irish team for their well-deserved win last night, but clearly, the performance across the series for the All Blacks was not acceptable, as we know they have reflected," said Robinson in a statement released on Sunday.
"We all know there is a huge amount of work to do. Our focus now is to work with Ian and his team to understand thoroughly in advance of the Rugby Championship, what is needed to improve performance and where to from here.
"We will begin this work immediately."
Foster is contracted to guide the All Blacks through next year's World Cup in France, but had to fend off questions about his future at the post-match media conference on Saturday.
New Zealand's next fixture is scheduled for August 7, when they face world champions South Africa at Mbombela, then again at Johannesburg seven days later.
