KEY POINTS:
If there is a worry for me on this Grand Slam tour, it is in the front row where the All Blacks look a bit exposed.
At the time of writing, I hadn't seen the Scotland test as it was too late for deadline but I didn't
think the All Black scrum looked all that hot against the Australians, and Neemia Tialata was a problem again.
If you look at the All Black props, the No 1 front row will now be Tony Woodcock, Keven Mealamu, and Tialata. Behind them are John Afoa, Jamie Mackintosh (the two props against Scotland) and Ben Franks.
That is not a line-up which fills me with confidence. Even more worrying is that Tialata has had a nightmare of a season. Jamie Joseph, the Wellington coach, wouldn't even play him for 80 minutes.
Against Australia in Hong Kong, Tialata came up against Benn Robinson - a much smaller man - and Tialata scrummaged poorly.
If you are outdone in size and power, you have to take a different approach to take control.
Robinson did. He got the jump on Tialata and the Wellingtonian went down a lot, although I couldn't tell whether it was poor scrummaging or his feet giving way on the dodgy footing. Tialata has every physical attribute an All Black and world-class prop would want - yet we are not seeing that translated into performance.
That's worrying when it comes to touring Britain and Ireland, as they will be coming up against some boys who can scrummage. If you believe, as I do, that the game is still won and lost up front, that is a challenge.
If Tialata doesn't come up trumps on this tour, his back-up at tighthead is Afoa who returned this morning in his first test since injury - and it will be interesting to assess how he does.
The picture is a little brighter at loosehead with Woodcock definitely number one and Jamie Mackintosh and Ben Franks backing up. The jury is still out on Mackintosh, a confident youngster with the right tools. Knowledgeable judges say he is cut out for a long All Black career and he has been in the care of scrum guru Mike Cron for years.
So he looks an interesting prospect although it takes about eight years before a prop fully develops. With his long back and height, Mackintosh has some issues to overcome in technique.
I was surprised Franks got the call ahead of Canterbury's Wyatt Crockett who is also tall. He is accomplished around the field, a scrummager who would benefit from being on tour. Franks, in contrast, merely survived the Super 14 and, in my opinion, didn't dominate in the Air NZ Cup.
This tour should have more midweek games - not just at Munster. That is where the new guys learn their trade and improve.
With midweek games, there is still rotation but it is by achievement, not rotation by rota.
Surely this can be done and return to a formula tried and tested down the All Black ages so we can develop players more.
