OPINION: September's 36-34 loss to South Africa seems to have spooked the All Blacks.

Generous to a fault that night, the All Blacks' ambition blinded them a little, leading to intercept tries for Springboks Willie le Roux and Cheslin Kolbe. They weren't a lot better in the return match in Pretoria, piling error upon error as the hosts went out to a 30-13 lead.

GETTY IMAGES All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has urged the team to earn the right to play.

By the time a Richie Mo'unga conversion sealed a memorable 32-30 comeback win, the All Blacks had resolved to earn the right to play in the future.

That's not a bad idea, provided you get the balance right. It's just that the team hasn't appeared to in their two games since (not including the B squad's rout of Japan), preferring a more passive gameplan based on damage limitation and kicking for territory, particularly in the first 40 minutes. It's one thing to earn the right to play, but quite another to opt not to play entirely.

GETTY IMAGES All Blacks first-five Beauden Barrett did plenty of kicking against England, including this drop goal.

READ MORE:

* World Rugby backs no try decision

* Nek Minnit Conor's back to face ABs?

* Plenty of pluses for England in loss

* Cheika's coaching fate rests with Italy

Against Australia in Yokohama, New Zealand produced a volley of second-half scoring en route to a 37-20 win. They were more direct and kept the ball in hand and looked a good side as a result.

Twickenham, last Saturday (Sunday NZ Time), was wet, so kicking wasn't the worst shout - only it was about the only thing the All Blacks did in the opening 40 minutes against England. Within 25 minutes they were 15-0 down and it again took a period of ball retention and straight running to spark a revival that ended in a 16-15 victory.

GETTY IMAGES New Zealand's box-kicking looked pretty laboured against England at Twickenham.

New Zealand have a few points of rugby difference. One of them is the ability of all the forwards to catch and pass better than many international backs. Any old forward can carry the ball into contact, but the All Blacks' ability to offload, or tip the ball on, creates so many holes and so much momentum.

What's more, it's virtually risk-free.

Among the team's other great strengths is an ability to play what they see. That's a weapon on it's own, but even more potent when coaches encourage players to do that, no matter where they are on the field or what the situation.

GETTY IMAGES Anton Lienert-Brown, left, and Jordie Barrett both threw intercepts for tries as South Africa beat the All Blacks in Wellington.

These last two games suggest that backing's no longer there or that the players are now second-guessing themselves about when to pull the trigger. It's almost as if they've resolved to stay in touch with the opposition during the first 40, then start playing after that.

Scenarios such as the Wellington match aren't ideal. All Blacks coach Steve Hansen remarked afterwards that 21 of South Africa's 36 points had been gifted to them, by way of the two intercepts and the inept defending of a lineout drive that saw Malcolm Marx plunge over.

Given how easily things had come in the previous tests against Australia it was almost inevitable that, from 12-0 up at Westpac Stadium, the team expected the Springboks to succumb just as quickly.

Instead, the All Blacks were made to look a little fallible that night, as they've continued to for much of the time since.

Some will argue that finding a way to win in difficult circumstances, as the team did in Pretoria and again against England, is very encouraging. But you could just as easily suggest this is a muddled team showing signs of decline.

The Crusaders have shown that, as long as your set pieces are solid and you kick your goals, you can achieve great success by kicking long and backing your defence to create counter-attacking opportunities.

That might yet work for the All Blacks but, ahead of Saturday's (Sunday NZT) blockbuster clash with Ireland, they look a confused side caught between two stools.

Hardly an ideal situation.