All Blacks: With a loaded arsenal, why does the scrum continue to misfire?

The All Black front row pack down for scrum practice. Photo / Getty Images

Big ticks were put in several All Black boxes at Murrayfield, but once again there was a question mark over scrummaging work.

The inability of the All Blacks to gain dominance in such a vital area is starting to bother coach Graham Henry - almost as much as his team clearly being on a different page from the Northern Hemisphere referees.

As at Twickenham, once again the All Blacks were heavily penalised on Scotland's put-in - four penalties came in the second half.

For the All Blacks to build security about their ability to succeed in knock-out rugby, they must have full confidence in their scrum.

The key to the first try against the Scots was the solid platform that allowed Kieran Read to pick up and pop up to a fast advancing Jimmy Cowan.

But the aggression and effectiveness of the scrum has to be just as intense on the opposition ball and the All Blacks are struggling with that.

"We thought that we were on the same wavelength as the referees. But we gave four penalties and that's a frustration," Henry said.

A full post mortem has taken place in Dublin and the forwards can expect another week of heavy technical work.

It's not just the longer term the All Blacks will have be keeping an eye on. They will also have seen that the Welsh ran South Africa close and the All Blacks know that the men from the principality have to be put under pressure across the field.

Dissecting the Murrayfield test, Hika Elliot's first thoughts were that the gap between the teams ahead of the engagement was bigger than he was used to.

"There were a few interruptions and it was a long process at times. There was a huge gap between the two teams which is probably why there were a lot of collapsed scrums," said Elliot.

It's also becoming apparent the All Blacks won't encounter consistency in the rhythm of the referees' scrum calls. Dave Pearson seemed to labour the process, leaving too long between calling "touch" and "engage".

"I am used to the slow calls because that is what we had at the ITM Cup," said Elliot.

With the All Black juggernaut grinding through the gears, the scrum is now number one priority - the only part of the weaponry not functioning the way the coaches want.