‘All or Nothing: New Zealand All Blacks’ is must-watch sports drama

The New Zealand All Blacks stand dejected. A 23-18 loss to Australia in October 2017 in the third Bledisloe Cup match has left people wondering the All Blacks’ future, and questioning every decision that led to this moment. Some players take a knee on the field, head in hands, as if their entire world has come crashing down.

The All Blacks also went 14-2-1 the same season, winning the Investec Rugby Championship, the Bledisloe Cup and a drawing a test series against the British and Irish Lions. By anyone’s standards it was a resounding success, but the All Blacks aren’t anyone.

New Zealand’s national rugby team is the proudest and most successful on the planet. Despite being one of the sport’s smallest nations they routinely dominate the world through a system that has a seemingly endless supply of incredible players. Now there’s a look at how the team operates, the ethos they’ve created and most-importantly, how an endlessly successful team holds onto their control.

Amazon’s six-part series All or Nothing: New Zealand All Blacks is one of the most fascinating examinations of a team you’re likely to see. It follows a similar behind-the-scenes structure to other entries in the series, but instead of focusing on a team looking to break though, it’s a treatise on what it’s like to be a part of a two-decade dynasty.

The show operates on two levels: The personal stories of players involved in the 2017 season, and a larger examination of legendary coach Steve Hansen’s approach to organizing the All Blacks, and his ever-presence concern that his dynasty is going to collapse — which leads to a paranoia-fueled quest for perfection.

My fear before watching the series was that an Amazon-produced docuseries on the All Blacks would dumb down rugby in an attempt to appeal to a mostly-American audience, or fail to examine the importance of the team to New Zealand’s national identity — but those concerns were assuaged quickly.

The first few episodes establishe the All Blacks as unstoppable juggernauts, while refreshingly juxtaposing their might with the injury concerns of Ben Smith, who was fearful he’d experienced his third concussion in three months, and pondering what the head injuries meant for his future — and his family.

It’s a welcome change from series on the NFL, which tend to do their best to ignore chronic brain injuries.

The series then transitions into a deeper look at what the All Blacks mean to New Zealand, contrasting on-field action with real calls made to sports radio in New Zealand. Average fans expecting 30-point wins, and slamming the team when they don’t reach the absolute zenith or sporting perfection.

After a 36-10 win over Argentina he was complaining about the lack of effort and focus from his players.

The primary criticism of the series in New Zealand is that it offered little to fans who already intimately know the team, instead telling die-hard All Blacks fans what they already knew — but the same can be said of most teams that get this kind of treatment. They’re not meant for the fan who knows every intricacy of an organization, but instead a window into another world for the uninitiated. The series achieves that goal.

You don’t need to understand rugby, just appreciate sports to fall in love with this series. As an Australian I grew up indoctrinated to hate the All Blacks and every time Jonah Lomu crushed my beloved Wallabies into dust, but it was impossible to dislike the team after watching All or Nothing.

It leaves viewers with one lingering realization: The only team that can beat the All Blacks is the All Blacks. Young players are competing against other nations, but their only real challenge is living up to impossible expectations at home, and cementing themselves in history among dominant All Black teams.

All or Nothing: New Zealand All Blacks is available for streaming on Amazon Prime.