They're not quite going as far as saying they'll go to "golden oldie" scrums (ie, no pushing), but the All Blacks management do concede that they may have to take it easy against the Portuguese scrum in tomorrow's World Cup test in Lyon.
Scrum coach Mike Cron sayssafety comes first and if the All Blacks scrum is too powerful, they will look at easing off, as they did before they came on tour.
He says when the All Blacks played the Police team and Auckland Barbarians, they were able to pull it back allowing the opposition to win their ball but it is far from ideal as scrummaging is part of the job.
Cron says it is not a decision they will take lightly, and he was impressed with the Portuguese scrummaging effort against Scotland. He says it looks like they have been well coached but if things looked unsafe, they would put the call out straight away to take things easy.
Cron believes the All Blacks scrum is about three weeks away from firing on all cylinders.
The All Blacks will have their captain's run at the stadium in Lyon tonight.
The team made the two-hour journey from their base at Marseille to Lyon by high-speed train overnight (NZ time).
