Gregor Paul: The All Blacks have settled on their campaign slogan for this World Cup

The All Blacks pack monsters Namibia's scrum. Photo / www.photosport.nz

All Blacks 71-3 Namibia

Gregor Paul in Toulouse

As we move closer to the election, slogans will become an everyday part of life. And it would seem that the All Blacks have settled on their own campaign slogan for this World Cup which would be “scrum well, play well”.

It’s a little like the old French mantra of “No scrum, no win,” but hey-ho, it’s not easy to be original with these things, especially when the value of a good scrum remains as high today as it did 50 years ago.

Original or not, though, the All Blacks have clearly decided that their high-tempo game is built on the foundation of a dominant scrum.

The final score in Toulouse. Photo / Photsport

Get that bit right and the rest of their game will follow - that appears to be the thinking and maybe it’s not a million miles from being true.

The All Blacks didn’t get their scrummaging right against South Africa before the World Cup and they fell apart.

They didn’t get their scrummaging right against France in game one of the World Cup, not for long enough anyway, and they fell apart later in the second half.

And so head coach Ian Foster has laboured the point to his troops that the remainder of their qualifying games are an opportunity to rebuild and reset the scrum to ensure it is at full noise come the quarter-finals.

Because, he is sure, that when the All Blacks can exert pressure through their scrum, the positive impact flows through each and every part of their game.

It’s not just that a dominant scrum is an excellent attacking platform or a prolific source of penalties, it’s the psychological damage it inflicts on the opposition and the way it builds the confidence of the pack in all other areas of the work.

The evidence for that was apparent in Toulouse, where the All Blacks’ second try came from a destructive scrum in which Namibia were almost ejected out the back of the stadium and into the Canal Midi.

It was a stunning example of how powerful the All Blacks can be when they nail the timing, drive in unison and have the right mindset.

And after that scrum, which saw the All Blacks effectively win a tight-head to enable Cam Roigard to score, the whole evening clicked into place.

“We got a try out of it,” said All Blacks hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho of that first set piece.

“It was a good scrum to start off the game and get that momentum going and it flowed into the game.

“As a front-rower, when your set-piece is going well everything else on the field can flow from there. We got a few penalties against our scrum last weekend, and we needed to tidy that up.

“Namibia have a good scrum and we laid a platform at the start of the week that we really needed to dominate scrum and lineout and we came out and executed so I’m happy.”

The confidence soared after that power surge, attitudes were spot on and the All Blacks pack went about beating up Namibia just as everyone imagined they should go about beating Namibia.

Although to be fair, they made it look a lot easier than it was. Namibia may wallow 20 or so places lower than the All Blacks in the world rankings, but they don’t lack size or attitude in their forwards.

There was little precision or finesse about much of their work, but they are tough to break down and that the All Blacks did so easily and effectively is a tribute to the intensity of their ball carrying and accuracy at the cleanout.

“After last week’s performance we needed to bounce back and get back into the winner’s circle and we didn’t take Namibia lightly,” says Taukei’aho.

“We prepared accordingly. We got the ball rolling in this World Cup. We never underestimate any team.

“Being an All Black you have got a standard you have to play up to and being an All Blacks forward you have to front. And we fronted tonight. It was a good start. The group is confident. The confidence is still there, and we trust in each other’s ability.”

Gregor Paul is one of New Zealand’s most respected rugby writers and columnists. He has won multiple awards for journalism and has written several books about sport.