One win in the last six tests isn't great reading as the All Blacks head back to Sky Stadium.
And that's not even telling the full story either, as you have to go back to 2016 to find a win against a team that was actually interested in being there.
In fact, Sky Stadium currently stands as the worst venue for the All Blacks in the professional era. They've lost there more than the famously daunting venues of Ellis Park, Twickenham and (recently at least) the Aviva Stadium. It actually defies all logic that the site of so much failure is on NZ soil, given that they've only ever dropped four home series ever, with the gaps between each one at an average of 27 years.
The infamously bad weather certainly can't be used as an excuse. The All Blacks have been playing in Wellington since 1884, so they must be used to it by now. Besides, given local players' knowledge of the conditions that should be helping them anyway.
Sonny Bill Williams sent off at Westpac Stadium, Wellington. Photo: James Crombie/Photosport
The other weird part about it is that up until the dramatic 24-21 loss to the British & Irish Lions in 2017 (the All Blacks first loss at any NZ venue in nine seasons), they'd fashioned a 17 test win streak at then Westpac Stadium dating back to 2003. Before that, Athletic Park saw - depending on what criteria you're using - 29 All Black test wins, nine losses and three draws.
Since that Lions loss, the record at Sky Stadium looks like this:
2018: All Blacks 26 - 13 France
Not an All Blacks victory that stayed in the memories at all, only notable for the fact that it got minds thinking about alternatives to red card after French fullback Benjamin fall was sent off after only 12 minutes.
2018: Springboks 36 - 34 All Blacks
An absolute shootout and one of the Boks' finest hours. New coach Rassie Erasmus and skipper Siya Kolisi pulled off a miracle less than a year after the South Africans had been humbles 57-0 in Albany.
2019: All Blacks 16 - 16 Springboks
This one was heading for dull 16-9 win for the All Blacks until a bit of Cheslin Kolbe magic sealed a draw on the last play.
South Africa celebrate their win over the All Blacks 2018. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
2020: All Blacks 16 - 16 Wallabies
The first test out of the pandemic would have been a loss had Reece Hodge's shot at goal from 60m hadn't cannoned off the post. A crazy 10 minutes of added time followed but the deadlock couldn't be broken.
2022: Ireland 32 - 22 All Blacks
Perhaps the most far reaching loss in Ian Foster's tenure as coach, the All Blacks trailed for the entire game and conceded four tries. It consigned them to the first home series loss since 1994.
Ireland celebrate their try during 2022 Steinlager Series match 3 between the New Zealand All Blacks and Ireland at Sky Stadium in Wellington. Photo: Aaron Gillions / www.photosport.nz
But is it weighing on the minds of the players? Not really, according to born and bred Wellingtonian and All Black captain Ardie Savea.
"As players, if we put too much focus on that, we lose focus on what we need to. That's a cold reality that we don't perform well in Wellington, but we don't talk about that," said Savea, before making a welcome gag about the weather. Scott Robertson wasn't keen to be drawn on it either.
"My concern's on performance and records look after themselves, so we're focusing on respecting Argentina with a great week of prep," was his unsurprising response.
Ardie Savea. Photo: Lynne Cameron/SmartFrame
The Wellington woes also cast an interesting light of the much-vaunted All Black unbeaten streak at Eden Park, which will reach the 50 test mark if they beat the Pumas there next weekend. The aforementioned opponents at Sky Stadium shows just what the strength of schedule had been at Eden Park, notably that the Springboks haven't played there in over a decade.
Despite the shocking record, a defeat on Saturday night would be a real surprise because this is essentially the same Pumas team that the All Blacks destroyed in last year's World Cup semi-final. Besides, the history between these two specific sides in Wellington is very one-sided, including the All Blacks' biggest ever defeat of the Pumas back in 1997.
The 93-8 win at Athletic Park was such a hiding that captain Sean Fitzpatrick convinced the ref to call the game off early, so the Pumas wouldn't suffer the embarrassment of conceding 100 points. That's pretty unlikely to happen again, but it is worth noting that in the three tests since the Pumas won in Christchurch, the aggregate score line has been 138-21 in the All Blacks' favour.
You'd have to think out of the two histories presented, that one probably presents the more compelling case.
All Blacks v Pumas
Kick-off: 7.05pm, Saturday 10 August (NZT)
Sky Stadium, Wellington
Live blog coverage on RNZ Sport
All Blacks: 1. Ethan de Groot 2. Codie Taylor 3. Tyrel Lomax 4. Tupou Vaa'i 5. Sam Darry 6. Ethan Blackadder7. Dalton Papali'i 8. Ardie Savea (c) 9. TJ Perenara 10. Damian McKenzie 11. Mark Tele'a 12. Jordie Barrett 13. Anton Lienert-Brown 14. Sevu Reece 15. Beauden Barrett
Bench: 16. Asafo Aumua 17. Ofa Tu'ungafasi 18. Fletcher Newell 19. Josh Lord 20. Wallace Sititi 21. Cortez Ratima 22. Rieko Ioane 23. Will Jordan
Pumas: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Matias Moroni, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera (c), 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Franco Molina, 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Ignacio Ruiz, 1 Thomas Gallo
Bench: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Efrain Elias, 20 Tomas Lavanini, 21 Joaquin Oviedo, 22 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 23 Tomas Albornoz
