Two rising stars showed signs this weekend of providing crucial skills that will be needed if the All Blacks are to win the World Cup, writes Gregor Paul.
OPINION:
There was maybe just a hint of revolution hanging over this weekend's Super Rugby games – the strongest evidence yet thatNew Zealand's next generation of props are ready for higher honours.
A glimmer of light perhaps that if the All Blacks selectors are brave enough to back youth this year, they may end up with the sort of rugged, mobile, set-piece proficient, ball-playing pack that will be needed to win the World Cup.
The best place to view this coming revolution was in Christchurch where 22-year-old Fletcher Newell produced an all-round performance that was beyond the ability of many of his older and more recognised peers.
The Crusaders were able to win scrum penalties at will with the big No 3 anchoring the set-piece and yet there he was carrying the ball with the sort of explosive speed and dynamism that even the best and most brutal defenders would struggle to contain.
It was just one performance so there needs to be some caution in selling his credentials, but he showed in his 50 minutes against the Highlanders more ability than some of the country's established props have in the entirety of their careers.
Fletcher Newell from the Crusaders scored against the Highlanders. Photo / Getty
It's hard to know why, but New Zealand has struggled to fulfil its ambition of building dual-purpose props: big, strong men who can do their bit at set-piece and then cause as much havoc with ball in hand.
Joe Moody is about as close as the All Blacks have come to building the sort of all-rounder they are after.
He's a world-class scrummager and can be a damaging ball carrier, but that area of his game has been inconsistent mostly due to continual injury disruptions which have challenged his fitness.
Moody aside, most of the props picked by the All Blacks in the last five years have predominantly excelled at one thing or the other.
Nepo Laulala, Karl Tu'inukuafe and Ofa Tuungafasi are world-class scrummagers. They have consistently shown that they can pack down and trouble the best but have never convinced as natural ball players.
Angus Ta'avao and George Bower are mobile athletes that get around the park, but question marks hang over their set-piece work and this is why the game in Christchurch on Friday night was such a beacon of hope.
It wasn't just Newell who impressed. Ethan de Groot came off the bench for the Highlanders and shored up the visitors scrum.
He didn't necessarily shine in the loose, but that's an area of his game that is already known to be up to snuff and de Groot, after spending last year with the All Blacks, appears to be building all components of his skillset.
The next six to eight weeks are inevitably going to present the All Blacks selectors with some tough questions because many of the props they have invested in these past few years haven't shown enough to be certain they are the right men.
The big question, with just 18 months until the World Cup, is whether the selectors should give up on the likes of Tu'inukuafe, Tyrel Lomax and Ta'avao and throw everything into developing the likes of Newell, de Groot and Alex Hodgman of the Blues, who back in 2020 was playing the sort of hybrid role the All Blacks needed.
Newell and de Groot feel like they would deliver high reward if the selectors were willing to risk fast-tracking their progress this year.
Ethan de Groot of the Highlanders. Photo / Getty
They are young and inexperienced but they, along with Hodgman, have potential that appears to be beyond the likes of Tu'inukuafe, Lomax, Ta'avao, Bower and possibly even Tuungafasi.
Propping is a team effort these days in the test arena. It's a four-man job to get through 80 minutes and Newell and de Groot could end up forming a formidable combination with Laulala and Moody.
Throughout last year the All Blacks got the scrummaging performances they wanted from Moody and Laulala and while the latter may not offer as much around the field as the coaching team would like, his ability to drain the opposition, deliver possession and win penalties at the set-piece offsets his lack of ball-carrying punch.
But what the All Blacks didn't have last year were front-rowers to finish or exploit what the senior pair had started.
The second wave of heavy artillery didn't seem to have much to throw at the opposition and this is why Newell and de Groot excite.
Could they be capable of holding their own in the scrum later in a test, while also providing the ball carrying dynamism and work rates that will enable the All Blacks to exploit the inevitable fatigue that enters the last quarter of the typical test?
Could Newell and de Groot tag in for Moody and Laulala and lift rather than lower the intensity of the performance by giving the All Blacks two extra ball carriers at a time when they would dearly love two extra ball carriers?
The signs from this weekend are certainly promising.
